Properties of suspensions of few-layer graphene particles obtained by means of the direct exfoliation of natural graphite in polyatomic alcohols
Abstract
The article presents the results of the study of the liquid-phase exfoliation of natural graphite under the effect of ultrasound in organic media (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, ethylene glycol, and diethylene glycol) aimed to obtain colloidal preparations of few-layer graphenes. The study determined the effect of the time of processing (up to 7 hours) and concentration of particles (from 0.2 to 20 mg/cm3). The obtained results were compared to the previously obtained results of exfoliation in an aqueous medium (including in the presence of SAS).
As a result of the study we obtained dependences of the lateral dimensions of the particles on the time of processing. The study determined that the use of ethylene glycol allows obtaining particles of minimum size with the maximum rate of their change at minimum energy consumption. We evaluated the specific energy consumption and compared the results to the traditional grounding methods.
We also studied the dependence of specific electrical conductivity on the concentration of graphite in the initial suspension, as well as the nature of the dispersed medium and the time of processing. The obtained dependences were analysed from the point of view of modern theoretical concepts. The study demonstrated that it is possible to obtain suspensions with specific electrical conductivity of over 100 μS/cm.
The temperature dependences of the viscosity of suspensions were also analysed. The article demonstrates that they can be used to produce conductive ink. Within the temperature range from 20 to 90°С the viscosity of the suspensions varied within the range of 2-20 MPa·s and was close to the viscosity of a pure solvent.
We also investigated the effect of centrifugation resulting in transparent centrates on the size distribution and the structure of the graphene particles. The average number of graphene layers in the particles (2-3 layers) was determined by means of Raman spectroscopy performed before and after the centrifugation. We also observed an affect which had not been recorded before: the defectiveness of the particles of few-layer graphenes decreased with an increase in the concentration of graphite in the initial suspension.
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