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Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion

Received: 2 November 2014     Accepted: 4 November 2014     Published: 23 December 2014
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Abstract

This work is presenting a highly efficient, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly method for the production of graphene materials (reduced graphene oxide, RedGO) via electron beam (EB) irradiation of aqueous dispersions of graphene oxide (GO). Our strategy here is based on a reduction of GO via EB irradiation under optimally controlled conditions, i.e. dose and dose rate, reducing species, and taking the environmental impact of educt and product into account. The preparation of highly conductive RedGO under these conditions takes only 10-20 minutes at ambient temperature. After our first approach [1], a somewhat similar study was reported by Jung et al. [2] for GO dispersions in H2O/EtOH (50:50). However, the latter route [2], although being similar in spirit, has serious drawbacks for large-scale production because of the formation of acetaldehyde, a very toxic compound, derived from the ethanol in the solvent. The advantages of the present approach compared to [2] are: (i) the use of water as a solvent with only a small content (0.03 - 2 wt.-%) of 2-PrOH allows the scaling-up, since neither 2-PrOH nor its final product acetone are of high technological or environmental concerns; (ii) a much lower dose is required for GO reduction (about 20 vs. 200 kGy, corresponding to only 1/10 of energy consumed); (iii) the conductivity of RedGO is over 60 times higher. Based on the XPS and conductivity measurements, it was established that the EB treatment is leading also to a more efficient reduction of GO compared to the hydrazine method. The highest conductivity in our systems is identical to the best known value of 3 x 104 S/m for RedGO obtained via HI / acetic acid treatment which takes, however, 40 h at 40 ºC.

Published in American Journal of Nano Research and Applications (Volume 2, Issue 6-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Materials

DOI 10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12
Page(s) 9-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Electron Beam, Reducing Free Radicals, Reduced Graphene Oxide, Highly Conductive Carbon Nanomaterials, Graphene Oxide

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Roman Flyunt, Wolfgang Knolle, Axel Kahnt, Siegfried Eigler, Andriy Lotnyk, et al. (2014). Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion. American Journal of Nano Research and Applications, 2(6-1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12

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    ACS Style

    Roman Flyunt; Wolfgang Knolle; Axel Kahnt; Siegfried Eigler; Andriy Lotnyk, et al. Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion. Am. J. Nano Res. Appl. 2014, 2(6-1), 9-18. doi: 10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12

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    AMA Style

    Roman Flyunt, Wolfgang Knolle, Axel Kahnt, Siegfried Eigler, Andriy Lotnyk, et al. Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion. Am J Nano Res Appl. 2014;2(6-1):9-18. doi: 10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12,
      author = {Roman Flyunt and Wolfgang Knolle and Axel Kahnt and Siegfried Eigler and Andriy Lotnyk and Tilmann Häupl and Andrea Prager and Dirk Guldi and Bernd Abel},
      title = {Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion},
      journal = {American Journal of Nano Research and Applications},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6-1},
      pages = {9-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.nano.s.2014020601.12},
      abstract = {This work is presenting a highly efficient, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly method for the production of graphene materials (reduced graphene oxide, RedGO) via electron beam (EB) irradiation of aqueous dispersions of graphene oxide (GO). Our strategy here is based on a reduction of GO via EB irradiation under optimally controlled conditions, i.e. dose and dose rate, reducing species, and taking the environmental impact of educt and product into account. The preparation of highly conductive RedGO under these conditions takes only 10-20 minutes at ambient temperature. After our first approach [1], a somewhat similar study was reported by Jung et al. [2] for GO dispersions in H2O/EtOH (50:50). However, the latter route [2], although being similar in spirit, has serious drawbacks for large-scale production because of the formation of acetaldehyde, a very toxic compound, derived from the ethanol in the solvent. The advantages of the present approach compared to [2] are: (i) the use of water as a solvent with only a small content (0.03 - 2 wt.-%) of 2-PrOH allows the scaling-up, since neither 2-PrOH nor its final product acetone are of high technological or environmental concerns; (ii) a much lower dose is required for GO reduction (about 20 vs. 200 kGy, corresponding to only 1/10 of energy consumed); (iii) the conductivity of RedGO is over 60 times higher. Based on the XPS and conductivity measurements, it was established that the EB treatment is leading also to a more efficient reduction of GO compared to the hydrazine method. The highest conductivity in our systems is identical to the best known value of 3 x 104 S/m for RedGO obtained via HI / acetic acid treatment which takes, however, 40 h at 40 ºC.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Efficient Route to High-Quality Graphene Materials: Kinetically Controlled Electron Beam Induced Reduction of Graphene Oxide in Aqueous Dispersion
    AU  - Roman Flyunt
    AU  - Wolfgang Knolle
    AU  - Axel Kahnt
    AU  - Siegfried Eigler
    AU  - Andriy Lotnyk
    AU  - Tilmann Häupl
    AU  - Andrea Prager
    AU  - Dirk Guldi
    AU  - Bernd Abel
    Y1  - 2014/12/23
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12
    T2  - American Journal of Nano Research and Applications
    JF  - American Journal of Nano Research and Applications
    JO  - American Journal of Nano Research and Applications
    SP  - 9
    EP  - 18
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3738
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.nano.s.2014020601.12
    AB  - This work is presenting a highly efficient, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly method for the production of graphene materials (reduced graphene oxide, RedGO) via electron beam (EB) irradiation of aqueous dispersions of graphene oxide (GO). Our strategy here is based on a reduction of GO via EB irradiation under optimally controlled conditions, i.e. dose and dose rate, reducing species, and taking the environmental impact of educt and product into account. The preparation of highly conductive RedGO under these conditions takes only 10-20 minutes at ambient temperature. After our first approach [1], a somewhat similar study was reported by Jung et al. [2] for GO dispersions in H2O/EtOH (50:50). However, the latter route [2], although being similar in spirit, has serious drawbacks for large-scale production because of the formation of acetaldehyde, a very toxic compound, derived from the ethanol in the solvent. The advantages of the present approach compared to [2] are: (i) the use of water as a solvent with only a small content (0.03 - 2 wt.-%) of 2-PrOH allows the scaling-up, since neither 2-PrOH nor its final product acetone are of high technological or environmental concerns; (ii) a much lower dose is required for GO reduction (about 20 vs. 200 kGy, corresponding to only 1/10 of energy consumed); (iii) the conductivity of RedGO is over 60 times higher. Based on the XPS and conductivity measurements, it was established that the EB treatment is leading also to a more efficient reduction of GO compared to the hydrazine method. The highest conductivity in our systems is identical to the best known value of 3 x 104 S/m for RedGO obtained via HI / acetic acid treatment which takes, however, 40 h at 40 ºC.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6-1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Leibniz-Institut für Oberfl?chenmodifizierung (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, 04303 Leipzig, Germany

  • Leibniz-Institut für Oberfl?chenmodifizierung (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, 04303 Leipzig, Germany

  • Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM), Friedrich-Alexander-Universit?t Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Egerlandstra?e 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

  • Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Central Institute for New Materials and Processing Technology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit?t Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Dr.-Mack Str. 81, 90762 Fürth, Germany

  • Leibniz-Institut für Oberfl?chenmodifizierung (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, 04303 Leipzig, Germany

  • Leibniz-Institut für Oberfl?chenmodifizierung (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, 04303 Leipzig, Germany

  • Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM), Friedrich-Alexander-Universit?t Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Egerlandstra?e 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

  • Leibniz-Institut für Oberfl?chenmodifizierung (IOM), Permoserstr. 15, 04303 Leipzig, Germany

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