Synthesis of graphene nanosheets by the electrical explosion of graphite powder confined in a tube
Introduction
Graphene has good application prospects in supercapacitors and secondary batteries [1], various film materials for heat dissipation [2], corrosion prevention [3], seawater desalination [4], and wave absorption [5], and composite materials [6,7]; thus, these promising applications have stimulated the large-scale production of graphene [8]. Synthesis methods of graphene can be divided into two categories: (i) Bottom-up approach — In this method, graphene is formed by the recombination of carbon atoms. Chemical vapor deposition, arc discharge, and epitaxial growth are the main bottom-up approaches [[9], [10], [11], [12], [13]]. Although these techniques have been commercialized, the cost of high-quality graphene is still very high. (ii) Top-down exfoliation method — In this process, graphite is exfoliated into graphene by an external force. High-quality graphene sheets can be obtained by overcoming van der wall force interactions between graphite layers [14]. The exfoliation of graphite is one of the most promising ways to synthesis graphene at an extremely low cost [15,16].
Among different exfoliation techniques, the micromechanical exfoliation of graphite by adhesive tape is an initially explored and effective approach to produce high-quality, large-area graphene sheets [[17], [18], [19]]. In addition, The sonication-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite [[20], [21], [22]], fluid dynamics-based [[23], [24], [25], [26], [27]] and electrochemical exfoliation approaches also have been adopted to produce graphene [[28], [29], [30]]. Although the above-discussed mechanical exfoliation methods are extremely promising, several issues still require constant attention. First, graphite stripping efficiency is low due to insufficient energy injection, leading to a low yield of graphene. Second, most graphite remains non-exfoliated; thus, centrifugation is required [31]. Therefore, it is necessary to find a new method to synthesize graphene simply and quickly by applying enormous instantaneous energy to graphite.
Electrical wire explosion can apply enormous instantaneous energy to a conductor for a few microseconds, and it is a promising low-cost method to produce various nanometer powders because of its simplicity and efficiency. Electrical wire explosion is generally carried out in a vacuum or a medium. A strong current generated by a pulse capacitor passes through a wire, and the wire melts due to Joule heating under the action of the pulsed current. The molten metal was further heated by an increase in the resistance and the current density, causing the material to evaporate [32]. After the vaporization of wire, it forms a mixture of vapor and droplets. Shock wave was generated by the expansion, The products spread out rapidly with a shock wave in the subsequent explosion. After cooling, the gas and droplets nucleate and grow to form nanoparticles and quickly disperse into the surrounding medium at a very high speed [33].
Bakina et al. [34]synthesized Al nanopowder and Al/AlN composite nanoparticles by exploding Al wires in nitrogen and argon. Lee et al. [35]prepared NiO/Ni/graphene nanocomposites by exploding nickel wires in oleic acid-containing commercial graphene. Kurlyandskaya et al. [36] produced FeNi magnetic nanoparticles by the electrical explosion of iron-nickel wires. Wada et al. [37]synthesized nanosized Ti–O particles by exploding Ti wires in distilled water. In addition, Numerous attempts have been made to prepare carbon materials (graphene, amorphous carbon, nanoclusters, composites) by electrical wire explosion. Rud et al. [38]prepared carbon nanotubes and fullerene by the electrical wire explosion and spark erosion of graphite in an organic medium. Baklar et al. [39]obtained necessary conditions for the synthesis of fullerene and nano-diamond by electrical explosions in cylindrical graphite conductors through theoretical derivations. Furthermore, fullerene [40,41] and carbon nanotubes [42,43] have been synthesized by the electrical explosion of carbon fibers. Gao et al. [44] successfully prepared a monolayer and few layers of graphene in distilled water by electrical wire explosion using high-purity graphite rods as raw materials.
However, existing research on the electrical explosion of graphite has mainly focused on filamentous conductors (graphite rods and carbon fibers), which are operated in liquid medium. Liquid media have a certain compression effect on shock waves generated by electrical explosions, enhancing the mechanical effect of shock waves on graphite materials. Compared to graphite rods and carbon fibers, graphite powder is cheap, abundant in nature, and an excellent conductor. But graphite powder is made up of a large number of discrete particles in clusters, which are not as dense as filamentous conductors, so it is difficult to explode in the liquid medium. Similar to a liquid-phase environment, the tube can also exert great pressure on the explosive product for electrical explosion in gaseous medium, making the electrical explosion of graphite powder possible.
In this study, a self-designed device for electrical explosions was developed. Graphene was successfully prepared by the electrical explosion of graphite powder confined in a tube. The obtained graphene was uniformly suspended in a argon atmosphere to form an aerosol. A certain concentration of graphene aerosol was obtained by controlling the number or frequency of electrical explosions. The effect of tube diameter on graphene formation was investigated. Finally, the formation mechanism of graphene in the constraint tube by electrical explosions was discussed.
Section snippets
Principle
On the basis of previous research on the preparation of nanometer powders by the electrical explosion of metal wires, a new method for the electrical explosion of graphite powder confined in a tube was proposed (Fig. 1). Natural graphite powder was first placed in a constraint tube made of polyethylene. One end of the tube was closed, and its other end was open. Graphene was sprayed out along the open end. A large current generated by a high-voltage system formed a breakdown channel between two
Results and discussion
The typical scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the synthesized products at the energy of 864 J with different constraint tube diameters are exhibited in Fig. 3. It is noticeable that two types of synthesized products were formed for different constraint tube diameters — agglomerated graphite flakes (each flake had a size of 2–20 μm) and microscopic flocculent graphite (irregular wrinkled flakes pressed on each other). The SEM images of explosive products obtained for the tube diameter
Conclusions
Few-layer graphene was produced by the electrical explosion of graphite confined in a tube at an argon medium. The diameter of the confinement tube influenced the collision degree of explosive products during electrical explosions, leading to the formation of different types of carbon structures, such as graphite nanosheets and few-layer graphene. The optimal diameter of the confinement tube to prepare few-layer graphene under the charging voltage of 14 kV was found to be 3 mm. Graphene
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51765038), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61866021) and Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Synthetical Automation for Process Industries, China(Grant No. PAL-N201808); We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.
References (54)
- et al.
Corrosion protective mechanism of smart graphene-based self-healing coating on carbon steel
Corrosion Sci.
(2020) - et al.
SiBCN ceramic aerogel/graphene composites prepared via sol-gel infiltration process and polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) route
Ceram. Int.
(2020) - et al.
The growth mechanism of few-layer graphene in the arc discharge process
Carbon
(2016) - et al.
Pressure-dependent synthesis of graphene nanoflakes using Ar/H2/CH4 non-thermal plasma based on rotating arc discharge
Diam. Relat. Mater.
(2021) - et al.
Exfoliation of graphene nanosheets in aqueous media
Ceram. Int.
(2020) - et al.
The liquid-phase preparation of graphene by shear exfoliation with graphite oxide as a dispersant
Mater. Chem. Phys.
(2019) - et al.
Effect of ambient gas species on the formation of Cu nanoparticles in wire explosion process
Curr. Appl. Phys.
(2012) - et al.
Synthesis of Al nanoparticles and Al/AlN composite nanoparticles by electrical explosion of aluminum wires in argon and nitrogen
Powder Technol.
(2016) - et al.
Structure, magnetic and microwave properties of FeNi nanoparticles obtained by electric explosion of wire
J. Alloys Compd.
(2014) - et al.
Reaction synthesis of several titanium oxides through electrical wire explosion in air and in water
Ceram. Int.
(2013)
Different states of carbon produced by high-energy plasmochemistry synthesis
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
The study of refractory Ta10W and non-refractory Ni60A coatings deposited by wire electrical explosion spraying
Surf. Coating. Technol.
Preparation of few-layer graphene nanosheets by radio-frequency induction thermal plasma
Carbon
Fabrication and tribological properties of nanogrids on CVD-grown graphene
Micron
Raman spectroscopy in graphene
Phys. Rep.
Graphene for batteries, supercapacitors and beyond
Nature Reviews Materials
Graphene heat dissipation film for thermal management of hot spot in electronic device
J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron.
Surface slip on rotating graphene membrane enables the temporal selectivity that breaks the permeability-selectivity trade-off
Science Advances
Porous graphene microflowers for high-performance microwave absorption
Nano-Micro Lett.
Microstructure and tribological behavior of graphene/Al composites produced by selective laser melting
Mater. Res. Express
Path towards graphene commercialization from lab to market
Nat. Nanotechnol.
Large area, few-layer graphene films on arbitrary substrates by chemical vapor deposition
Nano Lett.
Structural characterization of graphene nanostructures produced via arc discharge method
Ceram. Int.
Revealing interfacial disorder at the growth-front of thick many-layer epitaxial graphene on SiC: a complementary neutron and X-ray scattering investigation
Nanoscale
Methods of graphite exfoliation
J. Mater. Chem.
Mass production and industrial applications of graphene materials
National Science Review
Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films
Science
Cited by (20)
Compositionally graded multi-principal-element alloy coating with hybrid amorphous-nanocrystalline structure by directional electrical explosion
2023, Journal of Alloys and CompoundsOne-step preparation of pure and Cu-decorated graphite thin layers via electrical explosion in a confined environment: Physical process and product characterization
2022, Ceramics InternationalCitation Excerpt :Shigeru et al. [6] investigated the exfoliation mechanism of graphene through electrical explosion of an expanded graphite strip and illustrated the important role of small-scale shock waves generated by the expansion of the graphite strip and the explosion of the heated gas when exfoliating graphite. Zhu et al. [7,8] proposed a novel method of exploding graphite powder in a semi-closed tube with an intense pulsed discharge; as a result, nanosheets, few-layer graphene and Ag/C composite coatings were obtained. Moreover, nanomaterials can be easily produced by the electrical explosion method as long as the target is a conductor; therefore, metal/graphite composite materials synthesized by EEW have raised extensive concern.
A low cost, bulk synthesis of the thermally reduced graphene oxide in an aqueous solution of sulphuric acid & hydrogen peroxide via electrochemical method
2022, Inorganic Chemistry CommunicationsCitation Excerpt :Due to its unique two-dimensional planar structure, graphene and GO are considered good candidates to immobilize organo-catalysts [15]. There are various types of methods that have been used for the synthesis of GO like: mechanical exfoliation [47], micromechanical cleavage [48], shear exfoliation [49], explosive exfoliation [50], chemical exfoliation [51], supercritical fluid exfoliation [52], electrochemical exfoliation [53], chemical reduction, one-pot solvothermal synthesis [54,55], thermal exfoliation reduction [56], CVD [57], epitaxial growth on SiC [58], Spray pyrolysis [59,60]. The Electrochemical synthesis method is expected to be a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly method; for the mass production of few-layer graphene (FLG).
Electrical explosion spray of Ag/C composite coating and its deposition behavior
2022, Ceramics InternationalCitation Excerpt :An electrical explosion was generated, and a high-speed jet generated by the explosion products impinged onto the substrate to complete a spraying. The experimental apparatus was designed by the authors, which has been reported for the preparation of graphene by the electrical explosion of graphite powder confined in the tube [26]. In order to prevent the detonation tube from cracking, its structure was redesigned, while the other mechanisms remained unchanged.
Ultrafast in-situ transformation of graphite into graphene nanosheets by high current pulsed electron beam direct irradiation
2022, Applied Surface ScienceCitation Excerpt :Owing to the preeminent performance, it shows enormous intriguing applications in the fields of hydrogen storage, electronics, biomaterials, and so forth [5–8]. The realization of these potential implementation is determined by the methods for preparation of graphene [9,10]. Up to now, great achievements have been made in developing synthesis technique.