Facile synthesis of large surface area graphene and its applications

Abstract

In 2008, one of the most costly materials on earth was graphene which was obtained by exfoliation method, having a model area of a human hair cross section costing more than $1000 as of April 2008 [2]. Since then, hunger for searching low-cost, non-hazardous alternative methods for scalable production of graphene continued. Graphene’s flexible chemistry with an atomic thickness makes it superlatives in material science, an ideal candidate for countless applications. Incredibly light weight and flexible, yet 200 times stronger than steel. Highly conductive but at the same time transparent, first 2D material existing but is one million times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair. Having all these amazing properties, graphene is creating an impact in wide range of industries including in fields of electronics, EMI shielding, composites, sensing devices as well as in energy storage, biomedical devices, and many more. Application of this wonder material is restricted to our imagination only. These engineering applications necessitate accessibility of graphene on the large scale, and methods used to synthesize this are facile, cost-effective, simple, quick, and single-step process, and thus appropriate processes are essential for synthesizing it down to a single-sheet level. The quality and quantity of graphene also plays an essential role, as the occurrence of defects, structural disorders, impurities, multiple domains, grain boundaries, and wrinkles in the graphene sheet can leave an unwanted effect on its electronic and optical properties. The present chapter will be aimed at the preparation of high quality few-layer graphene on a bulk scale from graphite in an affordable, nontoxic, and easy method. The methods which will be discussed in this chapter will be mostly on microwave-assisted synthesis of graphene and electrochemical exfoliation method used in our lab as well as reported by other workers, and how these methods are advantageous over conventional exfoliation methods. Last segment of this chapter will deal with applications of graphene particularly in EMI shielding. © 2017, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.