• 文献标题:   Exfoliation of graphene with an industrial dye: teaching an old dog new tricks
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   SCHLIERF A, CHA K, SCHWAB MG, SAMORI P, PALERMO V
  • 作者关键词:   graphene, composite, supramolecular chemistry
  • 出版物名称:   2D MATERIALS
  • ISSN:   2053-1583
  • 通讯作者地址:   ISOF CNR
  • 被引频次:   10
  • DOI:   10.1088/2053-1583/1/3/035006
  • 出版年:   2014

▎ 摘  要

We describe the exfoliation, processing and inclusion in polymer composites of few-layers graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) by using the molecule indanthrone blue sulphonic acid sodium salt (IBS), a very common industrial dyestuff and intermediate for liquid crystal preparation. We show how IBS can be used to successfully exfoliate graphite into few-layers graphene yielding highly stable dispersions in water. To demonstrate that the method is suitable for applications in composites, these graphene-organic hybrids are processed into a commercial commodity polymer (polyvinyl alcohol, PVA), enhancing its electrical bulk conductivity by ten orders of magnitude by adding as few as 3% of GNP. We attribute the good performance of IBS in dispersing GNPs in water to its amphiphilic nature and the tendency to self-assemble through pi-pi interaction of its large aromatic core with the graphene surface. The molecule studied here, unlike many specialty organic surfactants or solvents commonly known to exfoliate graphene, is already used as a blue pigment dispersant additive in the industrial production of polymers and thus does not need to be removed from the final product.