Fabrication of large-area and high-crystallinity photoreduced graphene oxide films via reconstructed two-dimensional multilayer structures

Researchers in China have developed an improved way to make high-quality graphene films that could be used in flexible electronic devices. Hongzhi Wang, Yaogang Li and colleagues at Donghua University used a process that coats a gel of graphene oxide directly onto an electrically conducting surface such as copper. The graphene oxide is then converted into a high-quality ‘photoreduced’ graphene oxide film by exposure to light. The characteristics of the film can be finetuned by varying the ratio of graphene oxide to graphene regions. This allows improved performance in flexible electronics applications compared to graphene films made by existing methods. The fabrication process is fast, simple and low cost, making it ideal for scaling up to the industrial production levels needed for graphene to fulfil its commercial potential.

[1]  M. El‐Kady,et al.  Scalable fabrication of high-power graphene micro-supercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage , 2013, Nature Communications.

[2]  Yun Suk Huh,et al.  High performance of a solid-state flexible asymmetric supercapacitor based on graphene films. , 2012, Nanoscale.

[3]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Graphene-based ultracapacitors. , 2008, Nano letters.

[4]  L. Zhi,et al.  Rod‐Coating: Towards Large‐Area Fabrication of Uniform Reduced Graphene Oxide Films for Flexible Touch Screens , 2012, Advanced materials.

[5]  Candace K. Chan,et al.  Printable thin film supercapacitors using single-walled carbon nanotubes. , 2009, Nano letters.

[6]  Hua Bai,et al.  Functional Composite Materials Based on Chemically Converted Graphene , 2011, Advanced materials.

[7]  P. Shen,et al.  Simultaneous Formation of Ultrahigh Surface Area and Three‐Dimensional Hierarchical Porous Graphene‐Like Networks for Fast and Highly Stable Supercapacitors , 2013, Advanced materials.

[8]  Jiayan Luo,et al.  Effect of sheet morphology on the scalability of graphene-based ultracapacitors. , 2013, ACS nano.

[9]  Inhwa Jung,et al.  Tunable electrical conductivity of individual graphene oxide sheets reduced at "low" temperatures. , 2008, Nano letters.

[10]  Rajesh Rajamani,et al.  Flexible solid-state paper based carbon nanotube supercapacitor , 2012 .

[11]  Feiyu Kang,et al.  Renewing Functionalized Graphene as Electrodes for High‐Performance Supercapacitors , 2012, Advanced materials.

[12]  J. Coleman,et al.  High-yield production of graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite. , 2008, Nature nanotechnology.

[13]  Gaoping Cao,et al.  What is the choice for supercapacitors: graphene or graphene oxide? , 2011 .

[14]  Dongxue Han,et al.  Spontaneous and Fast Growth of Large‐Area Graphene Nanofilms Facilitated by Oil/Water Interfaces , 2012, Advanced materials.

[15]  L. Dai.  Functionalization of graphene for efficient energy conversion and storage. , 2013, Accounts of chemical research.

[16]  Zhiqiang Niu,et al.  All‐Solid‐State Flexible Ultrathin Micro‐Supercapacitors Based on Graphene , 2013, Advanced materials.

[17]  Jin Suk Chung,et al.  Fast and simple fabrication of a large transparent chemically-converted graphene film by spray-coating , 2010 .

[18]  R. Stoltenberg,et al.  Evaluation of solution-processed reduced graphene oxide films as transparent conductors. , 2008, ACS nano.

[19]  G. Wallace,et al.  Processable aqueous dispersions of graphene nanosheets. , 2008, Nature nanotechnology.

[20]  Paula T Hammond,et al.  Facilitated ion transport in all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors. , 2011, ACS nano.

[21]  R. Ruoff,et al.  The chemistry of graphene oxide. , 2010, Chemical Society reviews.

[22]  J. Tour,et al.  Splitting of a vertical multiwalled carbon nanotube carpet to a graphene nanoribbon carpet and its use in supercapacitors. , 2013, ACS nano.

[23]  G. Shi,et al.  Graphene Hydrogels Deposited in Nickel Foams for High‐Rate Electrochemical Capacitors , 2012, Advanced materials.

[24]  Chaohe Xu,et al.  Graphene-based electrodes for electrochemical energy storage , 2013 .

[25]  Feng Li,et al.  Graphene–Cellulose Paper Flexible Supercapacitors , 2011 .

[26]  H. Dai,et al.  Highly conducting graphene sheets and Langmuir-Blodgett films. , 2008, Nature nanotechnology.

[27]  F. Kang,et al.  Graphene sheets from worm-like exfoliated graphite , 2009 .

[28]  Junhong Chen,et al.  Crumpled Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene Nanosheets with Ultrahigh Pore Volume for High‐Performance Supercapacitor , 2012, Advanced materials.

[29]  Yonggang Huang,et al.  Materials and Mechanics for Stretchable Electronics , 2010, Science.

[30]  Wi Hyoung Lee,et al.  Chlorination of Reduced Graphene Oxide Enhances the Dielectric Constant of Reduced Graphene Oxide/Polymer Composites , 2013, Advanced materials.

[31]  R. Kaner,et al.  Honeycomb carbon: a review of graphene. , 2010, Chemical reviews.

[32]  Xiaodong Chen,et al.  Ambient Fabrication of Large‐Area Graphene Films via a Synchronous Reduction and Assembly Strategy , 2013, Advanced materials.

[33]  Jiayan Luo,et al.  Material processing of chemically modified graphene: some challenges and solutions. , 2013, Accounts of chemical research.

[34]  Chongwu Zhou,et al.  Review of chemical vapor deposition of graphene and related applications. , 2013, Accounts of chemical research.

[35]  Takashi Taniguchi,et al.  Hot Carrier–Assisted Intrinsic Photoresponse in Graphene , 2011, Science.

[36]  G. Eda,et al.  Chemically Derived Graphene Oxide: Towards Large‐Area Thin‐Film Electronics and Optoelectronics , 2010, Advanced materials.

[37]  Jae-Young Choi,et al.  Layer-by-layer doping of few-layer graphene film. , 2010, ACS nano.

[38]  Jiaxing Huang,et al.  Nanofluidic ion transport through reconstructed layered materials. , 2012, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[39]  Junwu Zhu,et al.  Bioinspired Effective Prevention of Restacking in Multilayered Graphene Films: Towards the Next Generation of High‐Performance Supercapacitors , 2011, Advanced materials.