▎ 摘　　要

NOVELTY - Preparation of nanoscaled graphene platelets (NGPs) (16), comprises: forming a carboxylic acid-intercalated graphite compound (12) by an electrochemical reaction that uses the carboxylic acid as an electrolyte and an intercalate source, where the layered graphite material is used as an anode material, a metal or graphite is used as a cathode material and a current is imposed upon the cathode and the anode; exposing the intercalated graphite compound to a thermal shock to give exfoliated graphite (14); and subjecting the exfoliated graphite to a mechanical shearing treatment. USE - The method is useful for producing NGPs and ultra-thin NGPs, which are lower cost alternatives to carbon nanotubes or carbon nanofibers for various scientific and engineering applications. The NGPs are useful as candidate reinforcement fillers for polymer nanocomposites. NGPs are useful in supercapacitor electrode material. ADVANTAGE - The method involves uniform exfoliation of the graphite intercalation compounds (GICs), hence provides NGPs that are more uniform in sizes. The method does not involve the evolution of undesirable species, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur oxide (SOx), which are common by-products of exfoliating conventional sulfuric or nitric acid-intercalated graphite compounds. The method provides GICs that does not require a high exfoliation temperature. The method is capable of consistently producing ultra-thin NGPs. The re-intercalation/exfoliation provides an effective and consistent way of producing ultra-thin NGPs with an average thickness less than 2 nm (or 5 layers). The method of intercalation and exfoliation is applicable to not only natural flake graphite, but also to synthetic graphite, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, graphite oxide, graphite fiber and graphitic nanofiber. DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Preparation of nano-scaled graphene platelets (NGPs) (16) with an average thickness of smaller than 30 nm from a layered graphite material (10), comprises: forming a carboxylic acid-intercalated graphite compound (12) by an electrochemical reaction that uses the carboxylic acid as both an electrolyte and an intercalate source, where the layered graphite material is used as an anode material, a metal or graphite is used as a cathode material and a current is imposed upon the cathode and the anode at a current density for a period sufficient for effecting the electrochemical reaction; exposing the intercalated graphite compound to a thermal shock to give exfoliated graphite (14); and subjecting the exfoliated graphite to a mechanical shearing treatment to form NGPs. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a flow chart of a two-stage process of producing ultra-thin graphite platelets. Layered graphite material (10) Intercalated graphite compound (12) Exfoliated graphite (14) Nano-scaled graphene platelets (16) Ultra-thin nano-scaled graphene platelets. (24)