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Tatarova E, Dias A, Henriques J, Abrashev M, Bundaleska N, Kovacevic E, Bundaleski N, Cvelbar U, Valcheva E, Arnaudov B, do Rego AMB, Ferraria AM, Berndt J, Felizardo E, Teodoro OMND, Strunskus T, Alves LL, Gonçalves B. Towards large-scale in free-standing graphene and N-graphene sheets. Sci Rep 2017; 7:10175. [PMID: 28860575 PMCID: PMC5579263 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10810-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges in the commercialization of graphene and derivatives is production of high quality material in bulk quantities at low price and in a reproducible manner. The very limited control, or even lack of, over the synthesis process is one of the main problems of conventional approaches. Herein, we present a microwave plasma-enabled scalable route for continuous, large-scale fabrication of free-standing graphene and nitrogen doped graphene sheets. The method's crucial advantage relies on harnessing unique plasma mechanisms to control the material and energy fluxes of the main building units at the atomic scale. By tailoring the high energy density plasma environment and complementarily applying in situ IR and soft UV radiation, a controllable selective synthesis of high quality graphene sheets at 2 mg/min yield with prescribed structural qualities was achieved. Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Near Edge X-ray-absorption fine-structure spectroscopy were used to probe the morphological, chemical and microstructural features of the produced material. The method described here is scalable and show a potential for controllable, large-scale fabrication of other graphene derivatives and promotes microwave plasmas as a competitive, green, and cost-effective alternative to presently used chemical methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Tatarova
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal.
| | - A Dias
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - J Henriques
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - M Abrashev
- Faculty of Physics, Sofia University, 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - N Bundaleska
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - E Kovacevic
- GREMI UMR 7344 CNRS and Université d'Orléans, Orleans Cedex 2, France
| | - N Bundaleski
- Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 2829-516, Portugal
| | - U Cvelbar
- Department for Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics F4, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
| | - E Valcheva
- Faculty of Physics, Sofia University, 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - B Arnaudov
- Faculty of Physics, Sofia University, 1164, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - A M Botelho do Rego
- Centro de Química-Física Molecular and IN, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - A M Ferraria
- Centro de Química-Física Molecular and IN, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - J Berndt
- GREMI UMR 7344 CNRS and Université d'Orléans, Orleans Cedex 2, France
| | | | - O M N D Teodoro
- Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 2829-516, Portugal
| | - Th Strunskus
- Institute for Materials Science, Christian Albrechts Universitaet zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - L L Alves
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
| | - B Gonçalves
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1049, Portugal
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Kim J, Bae SH, Kotal M, Stalbaum T, Kim KJ, Oh IK. Soft but Powerful Artificial Muscles Based on 3D Graphene-CNT-Ni Heteronanostructures. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2017; 13:1701314. [PMID: 28656636 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201701314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Bioinspired soft ionic actuators, which exhibit large strain and high durability under low input voltages, are regarded as prospective candidates for future soft electronics. However, due to the intrinsic drawback of weak blocking force, the feasible applications of soft ionic actuators are limited until now. An electroactive artificial muscle electro-chemomechanically reinforced with 3D graphene-carbon nanotube-nickel heteronanostructures (G-CNT-Ni) to improve blocking force and bending deformation of the ionic actuators is demonstrated. The G-CNT-Ni heteronanostructure, which provides an electrically conductive 3D network and sufficient contact area with mobile ions in the polymer electrolyte, is embedded as a nanofiller in both ionic polymer and conductive electrodes of the ionic actuators. An ionic exchangeable composite membrane consisting of Nafion, G-CNT-Ni and ionic liquid (IL) shows improved tensile modulus and strength of up to 166% and 98%, respectively, and increased ionic conductivity of 0.254 S m-1 . The ionic actuator exhibits enhanced actuation performances including three times larger bending deformation, 2.37 times higher blocking force, and 4 h durability. The electroactive artificial muscle electro-chemomechanically reinforced with 3D G-CNT-Ni heteronanostructures offers improvements over current soft ionic actuator technologies and can advance the practical engineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehwan Kim
- Creative Research Initiative Center for Functionally Antagonistic Nano-Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Seok-Hu Bae
- Creative Research Initiative Center for Functionally Antagonistic Nano-Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Moumita Kotal
- Creative Research Initiative Center for Functionally Antagonistic Nano-Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Tyler Stalbaum
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4027, USA
| | - Kwang J Kim
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4027, USA
| | - Il-Kwon Oh
- Creative Research Initiative Center for Functionally Antagonistic Nano-Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
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Sasikala SP, Huang K, Giroire B, Prabhakaran P, Henry L, Penicaud A, Poulin P, Aymonier C. Simultaneous Graphite Exfoliation and N Doping in Supercritical Ammonia. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2016; 8:30964-30971. [PMID: 27762542 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b10570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We report the exfoliation of graphite and simultaneous N doping of graphene by two methods: supercritical ammonia treatment and liquid-phase exfoliation with NH4OH. While the supercritical ammonia allowed N doping at a level of 6.4 atom % in 2 h, the liquid-phase exfoliation with NH4OH allowed N doping at a level of 2.7 atom % in 6 h. The N doped graphene obtained via the supercritical ammonia route had few layers (<5) and showed large lateral flake size (∼8 μm) and low defect density (ID/IG < 0.6) in spite of their high level of N doping. This work is the first demonstration of supercritical ammonia as an exfoliation agent and N doping precursor for graphene. Notably, the N doped graphene showed electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction reaction with high durability and good methanol tolerance compared to those of commercial Pt/C catalyst.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Prem Prabhakaran
- Department of Advanced Materials, Hannam University , Daejeon 305-811, South Korea
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Vishwakarma R, Shinde SM, Rosmi MS, Takahashi C, Papon R, Mahyavanshi RD, Ishii Y, Kawasaki S, Kalita G, Tanemura M. Influence of oxygen on nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber growth directly on nichrome foil. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2016; 27:365602. [PMID: 27479000 DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/36/365602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The synthesis of various nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanostructures has been significantly explored as an alternative material for energy storage and metal-free catalytic applications. Here, we reveal a direct growth technique of N-doped carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on flexible nichrome (NiCr) foil using melamine as a solid precursor. Highly reactive Cr plays a critical role in the nanofiber growth process on the metal alloy foil in an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) process. Oxidation of Cr occurs in the presence of oxygen impurities, where Ni nanoparticles are formed on the surface and assist the growth of nanofibers. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) clearly show the transformation process of the NiCr foil surface with annealing in the presence of oxygen impurities. The structural change of NiCr foil assists one-dimensional (1D) CNF growth, rather than the lateral two-dimensional (2D) growth. The incorporation of distinctive graphitic and pyridinic nitrogen in the graphene lattice are observed in the synthesized nanofiber, owing to better nitrogen solubility. Our finding shows an effective approach for the synthesis of highly N-doped carbon nanostructures directly on Cr-based metal alloys for various applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riteshkumar Vishwakarma
- Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
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Abstract
Heteroatom-doped graphitic frameworks have received great attention in energy research, since doping endows graphitic structures with a wide spectrum of properties, especially critical for electrochemical supercapacitors, which tend to complement or compete with the current lithium-ion battery technology/devices. This article reviews the latest developments in the chemical modification/doping strategies of graphene and highlights the versatility of such heteroatom-doped graphitic structures. Their role as supercapacitor electrodes is discussed in detail. This review is specifically focused on the concept of material synthesis, techniques for electrode fabrication and metrics of performance, predominantly covering the last four years. Challenges and insights into the future research and perspectives on the development of novel electrode architectures for electrochemical supercapacitors based on doped graphene are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanjundan Ashok Kumar
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, 4072 Australia
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