Synthesis and characterization of highly crystalline graphene aerogels.

ACS Nano

Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore, California 94550, United States.

Published: October 2014

AI Article Synopsis

  • Aerogels have unique properties like large surface areas, fine pores, and low densities, making them useful in various applications.
  • Recent advancements in graphene aerogels have been made by reducing graphene oxide, but they still lag behind pure graphene sheets in quality due to poor crystallinity.
  • A new method for synthesizing highly crystalline graphene aerogels using high-temperature processing not only improves their structure but also enhances their thermal stability and electrical conductivity.

Article Abstract

Aerogels are used in a broad range of scientific and industrial applications due to their large surface areas, ultrafine pore sizes, and extremely low densities. Recently, a large number of reports have described graphene aerogels based on the reduction of graphene oxide (GO). Though these GO-based aerogels represent a considerable advance relative to traditional carbon aerogels, they remain significantly inferior to individual graphene sheets due to their poor crystallinity. Here, we report a straightforward method to synthesize highly crystalline GO-based graphene aerogels via high-temperature processing common in commercial graphite production. The crystallization of the graphene aerogels versus annealing temperature is characterized using Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy. Nitrogen porosimetry shows that the highly crystalline graphene macrostructure maintains a high surface area and ultrafine pore size. Because of their enhanced crystallinity, these graphene aerogels exhibit a ∼ 200 °C improvement in oxidation temperature and an order of magnitude increase in electrical conductivity.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn505335uDOI Listing

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