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Facile preparation of pristine graphene using urea/glycerol as efficient stripping agents

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Abstract

Large-scale exfoliation of defect-free and few-layer graphene by an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly route has been a significant challenge for a long time. Here we show that high-quality, few-layer graphene with high stability and low defect content can be obtained from natural graphite via a simple stirring process in urea/glycerol, with yields of up to 12 wt.%. We also demonstrate that this facile method can be applied to the exfoliation of other two-dimensional materials, such as molybdenum disulfide and boron nitride. The as-prepared graphene was further composited with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and the composite exhibited a low percolation threshold of 0.05 vol.%. The incorporation of low (4.5 vol.%) graphene amounts led to a significant increase in the thermal conductivity of the graphene–PVDF composites.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51201117, 51673154). Thanks to M. S. Bin Liu, M. S. Yu Yan, Mr. Hao Chen, Mr. Zhen Tang. We appreciate Prof. Zhenya Sun, Dr. Xiaoqing Liu, Dr. De Fang, M. S. Yi Guo, M. S. Tingting Luo and other Lab Technician of the Center for Materials Research and Analysis of Wuhan University of Technology for materials characterization.

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  1. Jianping Chen and Weili Shi contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Jianping Chen, Weili Shi, Zhaodongfang Gao, Tao Wang, Shan Wang, Lijie Dong, Quanling Yang & Chuanxi Xiong

  2. National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Applied Technology of Hybrid Nanomaterials, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China

    Jianping Chen

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  1. Jianping Chen
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Correspondence to Quanling Yang or Chuanxi Xiong.

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Chen, J., Shi, W., Gao, Z. et al. Facile preparation of pristine graphene using urea/glycerol as efficient stripping agents. Nano Res. 11, 820–830 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1691-3

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