Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method

Whilst graphene materials have become increasingly popular in recent years, the followed synthesis strategies face sustainability, environmental and quality challenges. This study proposes an effective, sustainable and scalable ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method to produce graphene...

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Main Authors: Yan, Yuxin, Manickam, Sivakumar, Lester, Edward, Wu, Tao, Pang, Cheng Heng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/
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author Yan, Yuxin
Manickam, Sivakumar
Lester, Edward
Wu, Tao
Pang, Cheng Heng
author_facet Yan, Yuxin
Manickam, Sivakumar
Lester, Edward
Wu, Tao
Pang, Cheng Heng
author_sort Yan, Yuxin
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Whilst graphene materials have become increasingly popular in recent years, the followed synthesis strategies face sustainability, environmental and quality challenges. This study proposes an effective, sustainable and scalable ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method to produce graphene oxide (GO). A typical energy crop, miscanthus, was used as a carbon precursor and pyrolysed at 1200 ◦C before subjecting to edgecarboxylation via ball-milling in a CO2-induced environment. The resultant functionalised biochar was ultrasonically exfoliated in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and water to form GOs. The intermediate and endproducts were characterised via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. Results show that the proposed synthesis route can produce good quality and uniform GOs (8–10% monolayer), with up to 96% of GOs having three layers or lesser when NMP is used. Ultrasonication proved to be effective in propagating the self-repulsion of negativelycharged functional groups. Moreover, small amounts of graphene quantum dots were observed, illustrating the potential of producing various graphene materials via a single-step method. Whilst this study has only investigated utilising miscanthus, the current findings are promising and could expand the potential of producing good quality graphene materials from renewable sources via green synthesis routes.
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spelling nottingham-653812021-06-04T03:36:54Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/ Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method Yan, Yuxin Manickam, Sivakumar Lester, Edward Wu, Tao Pang, Cheng Heng Whilst graphene materials have become increasingly popular in recent years, the followed synthesis strategies face sustainability, environmental and quality challenges. This study proposes an effective, sustainable and scalable ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method to produce graphene oxide (GO). A typical energy crop, miscanthus, was used as a carbon precursor and pyrolysed at 1200 ◦C before subjecting to edgecarboxylation via ball-milling in a CO2-induced environment. The resultant functionalised biochar was ultrasonically exfoliated in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and water to form GOs. The intermediate and endproducts were characterised via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. Results show that the proposed synthesis route can produce good quality and uniform GOs (8–10% monolayer), with up to 96% of GOs having three layers or lesser when NMP is used. Ultrasonication proved to be effective in propagating the self-repulsion of negativelycharged functional groups. Moreover, small amounts of graphene quantum dots were observed, illustrating the potential of producing various graphene materials via a single-step method. Whilst this study has only investigated utilising miscanthus, the current findings are promising and could expand the potential of producing good quality graphene materials from renewable sources via green synthesis routes. 2021-03-13 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/1/main.pdf Yan, Yuxin, Manickam, Sivakumar, Lester, Edward, Wu, Tao and Pang, Cheng Heng (2021) Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 73 . p. 105519. ISSN 13504177 Graphene oxide Graphene quantum dots Ultrasound Sonication NMP Exfoliation http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105519 doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105519 doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105519
spellingShingle Graphene oxide
Graphene quantum dots
Ultrasound
Sonication
NMP
Exfoliation
Yan, Yuxin
Manickam, Sivakumar
Lester, Edward
Wu, Tao
Pang, Cheng Heng
Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title_full Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title_fullStr Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title_full_unstemmed Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title_short Synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
title_sort synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots from miscanthus via ultrasound-assisted mechano-chemical cracking method
topic Graphene oxide
Graphene quantum dots
Ultrasound
Sonication
NMP
Exfoliation
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65381/