Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids

Keith R. Paton; Eswaraiah Varrla; Claudia Backes; Ronan J. Smith; Umar Khan; Arlene O'Neill; Conor Boland; Mustafa Lotya; Oana M. Istrate; Paul King; Tom Higgins; Sebastian Barwich; Peter May; Pawel Puczkarski; Iftikhar Ahmed; Matthias Moebius; Henrik Pettersson; Edmund Long; João Coelho; Sean E. O'Brien; Eva K. McGuire; Beatriz Mendoza Sanchez; Georg S. Duesberg; Niall McEvoy; Timothy J. Pennycook; Clive Downing; Alison Crossley; Valeria Nicolosi; Jonathan N. Coleman

doi:10.1038/nmat3944

Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids

Keith R. Paton, Eswaraiah Varrla, Claudia Backes, Ronan J. Smith, Umar Khan, Arlene O'Neill, Conor Boland, Mustafa Lotya, Oana M. Istrate, Paul King, Tom Higgins, Sebastian Barwich, Peter May, Pawel Puczkarski, Iftikhar Ahmed, Matthias Moebius, Henrik Pettersson, Edmund Long, João Coelho, Sean E. O'BrienEva K. McGuire, Beatriz Mendoza Sanchez, Georg S. Duesberg, Niall McEvoy, Timothy J. Pennycook, Clive Downing, Alison Crossley, Valeria Nicolosi, Jonathan N. Coleman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1892 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To progress from the laboratory to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop industrially scalable methods to produce large quantities of defect-free graphene. Here we show that high-shear mixing of graphite in suitable stabilizing liquids results in large-scale exfoliation to give dispersions of graphene nanosheets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy show the exfoliated flakes to be unoxidized and free of basal-plane defects. We have developed a simple model that shows exfoliation to occur once the local shear rate exceeds 10 4 s â ̂'1. By fully characterizing the scaling behaviour of the graphene production rate, we show that exfoliation can be achieved in liquid volumes from hundreds of millilitres up to hundreds of litres and beyond. The graphene produced by this method performs well in applications from composites to conductive coatings. This method can be applied to exfoliate BN, MoS 2 and a range of other layered crystals.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	624-630
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	13
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3944
Publication status	Published - Jun 2014
Externally published	Yes

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Paton, K. R., Varrla, E., Backes, C., Smith, R. J., Khan, U., O'Neill, A., Boland, C., Lotya, M., Istrate, O. M., King, P., Higgins, T., Barwich, S., May, P., Puczkarski, P., Ahmed, I., Moebius, M., Pettersson, H., Long, E., Coelho, J., ... Coleman, J. N. (2014). Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids. Nature Materials, 13(6), 624-630. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3944

@article{c88445aa7ca94458a229fa776d3c6e3b,

title = "Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids",

abstract = "To progress from the laboratory to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop industrially scalable methods to produce large quantities of defect-free graphene. Here we show that high-shear mixing of graphite in suitable stabilizing liquids results in large-scale exfoliation to give dispersions of graphene nanosheets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy show the exfoliated flakes to be unoxidized and free of basal-plane defects. We have developed a simple model that shows exfoliation to occur once the local shear rate exceeds 10 4 s {\^a}{\^ }'1. By fully characterizing the scaling behaviour of the graphene production rate, we show that exfoliation can be achieved in liquid volumes from hundreds of millilitres up to hundreds of litres and beyond. The graphene produced by this method performs well in applications from composites to conductive coatings. This method can be applied to exfoliate BN, MoS 2 and a range of other layered crystals.",

author = "Paton, {Keith R.} and Eswaraiah Varrla and Claudia Backes and Smith, {Ronan J.} and Umar Khan and Arlene O'Neill and Conor Boland and Mustafa Lotya and Istrate, {Oana M.} and Paul King and Tom Higgins and Sebastian Barwich and Peter May and Pawel Puczkarski and Iftikhar Ahmed and Matthias Moebius and Henrik Pettersson and Edmund Long and Jo{\~a}o Coelho and O'Brien, {Sean E.} and McGuire, {Eva K.} and Sanchez, {Beatriz Mendoza} and Duesberg, {Georg S.} and Niall McEvoy and Pennycook, {Timothy J.} and Clive Downing and Alison Crossley and Valeria Nicolosi and Coleman, {Jonathan N.}",

year = "2014",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1038/nmat3944",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

pages = "624--630",

journal = "Nature Materials",

issn = "1476-1122",

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Paton, KR, Varrla, E, Backes, C, Smith, RJ, Khan, U, O'Neill, A, Boland, C, Lotya, M, Istrate, OM, King, P, Higgins, T, Barwich, S, May, P, Puczkarski, P, Ahmed, I, Moebius, M, Pettersson, H, Long, E, Coelho, J, O'Brien, SE, McGuire, EK, Sanchez, BM, Duesberg, GS, McEvoy, N, Pennycook, TJ, Downing, C, Crossley, A, Nicolosi, V & Coleman, JN 2014, 'Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids', Nature Materials, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 624-630. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3944

TY - JOUR

T1 - Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids

AU - Paton, Keith R.

AU - Varrla, Eswaraiah

AU - Backes, Claudia

AU - Smith, Ronan J.

AU - Khan, Umar

AU - O'Neill, Arlene

AU - Boland, Conor

AU - Lotya, Mustafa

AU - Istrate, Oana M.

AU - King, Paul

AU - Higgins, Tom

AU - Barwich, Sebastian

AU - May, Peter

AU - Puczkarski, Pawel

AU - Ahmed, Iftikhar

AU - Moebius, Matthias

AU - Pettersson, Henrik

AU - Long, Edmund

AU - Coelho, João

AU - O'Brien, Sean E.

AU - McGuire, Eva K.

AU - Sanchez, Beatriz Mendoza

AU - Duesberg, Georg S.

AU - McEvoy, Niall

AU - Pennycook, Timothy J.

AU - Downing, Clive

AU - Crossley, Alison

AU - Nicolosi, Valeria

AU - Coleman, Jonathan N.

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - To progress from the laboratory to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop industrially scalable methods to produce large quantities of defect-free graphene. Here we show that high-shear mixing of graphite in suitable stabilizing liquids results in large-scale exfoliation to give dispersions of graphene nanosheets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy show the exfoliated flakes to be unoxidized and free of basal-plane defects. We have developed a simple model that shows exfoliation to occur once the local shear rate exceeds 10 4 s â ̂'1. By fully characterizing the scaling behaviour of the graphene production rate, we show that exfoliation can be achieved in liquid volumes from hundreds of millilitres up to hundreds of litres and beyond. The graphene produced by this method performs well in applications from composites to conductive coatings. This method can be applied to exfoliate BN, MoS 2 and a range of other layered crystals.

AB - To progress from the laboratory to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop industrially scalable methods to produce large quantities of defect-free graphene. Here we show that high-shear mixing of graphite in suitable stabilizing liquids results in large-scale exfoliation to give dispersions of graphene nanosheets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy show the exfoliated flakes to be unoxidized and free of basal-plane defects. We have developed a simple model that shows exfoliation to occur once the local shear rate exceeds 10 4 s â ̂'1. By fully characterizing the scaling behaviour of the graphene production rate, we show that exfoliation can be achieved in liquid volumes from hundreds of millilitres up to hundreds of litres and beyond. The graphene produced by this method performs well in applications from composites to conductive coatings. This method can be applied to exfoliate BN, MoS 2 and a range of other layered crystals.

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U2 - 10.1038/nmat3944

DO - 10.1038/nmat3944

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84901252928

SN - 1476-1122

VL - 13

SP - 624

EP - 630

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

IS - 6

ER -

Scalable production of large quantities of defect-free few-layer graphene by shear exfoliation in liquids

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