High-quality few layer graphene produced by electrochemical intercalation and microwave-assisted expansion of graphite

GUSTAVO M. MORALES; PABLO SCHIFANI; GARY ELLIS; CARMEN BALLESTEROS; GERARDO MARTÍNEZ; CESAR BARBERO; HORACIO J. SALAVAGIONE

CARBON

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2011 vol. 49 p. 2809 - 2816

0008-6223

Few-layer graphene is synthesized from electrochemically-produced graphite intercalation compounds in aqueous perchloric acid. Although anodic intercalation is more efficient in terms of time, cathodic pre-treatment is preferred to avoid the formation of graphite oxide. The materials are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, UV–visible, infrared and Raman spectroscopy. We demonstrate that the method, under the experimental conditions used in this work, does not produce damage to the sp2 carbon lattice. The synthetic approach using electrochemical-potential control is very promising to obtain, in a controllable manner, graphene with different degrees of oxidation.