The present invention relates to a method for preparing graphene, further relates to a method for preparing graphene using the two-dimensional confined space between the layers of inorganic layered materials, which falls in the field of carbon nanomaterial preparation.
Graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanomaterial in which the arrangement of carbon atoms is identical to that in a single atomic layer of graphite, and generally refers to a 2D carbon layered structure stacked with less than 10 carbon atom layers. Since the number of layers of graphene has direct impact on the distribution of the electron cloud thereof, graphenes with various number of layers have different optical and electric performances, and the controlled synthesis of graphenes with various number of layers is beneficial in practical applications.
Novoselov et al. (K. S. Novoselov, A. K. Geim, S. V. Morozov, D. Jiang, Y. Zhang, S. V. Dubonos, I. V. Grigorieva and A. A. Firsov, Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films, Science, 2004, 306: 666-669) employed a mechanical peeling method to peel single-layer and multi-layer graphene thin films from highly oriented pyrolytic graphene and observe them, but such preparation method is difficult to control and scale up; Kim et al. (K. S. Kim, Y. Zhao, H. Jang, S. Y. Lee, J. M. Kim, K. S. Kim, J.-H. Ahn, P. Kim, J.-Y. Choi and B. H. Hong, Large-scale pattern growth of graphene films for stretchable transparent electrodes, Nature, 2009, 457: 706-710) utilized a chemical vapor deposition method to deposit various number of layers of graphene on a nickle substrate using methane as the carbon source, but such method used a gaseous carbon source which might cause safety issues during storage and in the process of reaction and could not produce graphene in large scale. Zhang et al. (W. Zhang, J. Cui, C. Tao, Y. Wu, Z. Li, L. Ma, Y. Wen and G. Li, A Strategy for producing pure single-layer graphene sheets based on a confined self-assembly approach, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2009, 48: 5864-5868) designed and synthesized a novel amphiphilic molecule having a polymerisable pyrrole group and used it as a structure inducer and a carbon source to prepare a mesoporous silica with a layered structure, and to prepare a single-layered graphene by in situ polymerization of the preorganized pyrrole groups in the mesopores and carbonization using the 2D reaction microcavity formed by the silica, but this method has a high requirement for the amphiphilic molecule which needs specialized design and synthesis, and the 2D template formed by the amphiphicle molecule was poorly stable and may fail in controlled synthesis.
To solve the abovementioned technical problems, an object of the invention is to provide a method for preparing graphene using the two-dimensional confined space between the layers of inorganic layered materials, which method utilizes a liquid carbon source to synthesize graphene with various number of layers under control and is advantageous due to its wide range of raw material sources as well as stability and safety.
For the above purpose, it is provided in the invention that a method for preparing graphene which utilizes the 2D confined space between the layers of inorganic layered materials, wherein, a chain alkyl anion and a carbon source molecule are intercalated into the layers of layered double hydroxides, the layered double hydroxides after the intercalation is then calcinated under an inert atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere while the carbon source molecule grows into graphene within a 2D confined space and the layered double hydroxides are converted to metal oxide upon the dehydration of layers, and graphene is obtained after removal of the metal oxide by acid dissolution. The graphene preparation method provided by the invention comprises the following steps and the process of which is shown in
(1) mix a soluble salt of a divalent metal ion M2+, a soluble salt of a trivalent metal ion M′3+, a soluble salt of a chain alkyl anion A− and a carbon source molecule C and dissolve them in deionized and CO2-eliminated water to prepare a mixed salt solution;
mix the mixed salt solution with a alkali solution under nitrogen protection and subject them to reaction and crystallization at 60° C. to 80° C. for 6 to 10 hours under nitrogen, filter the suspension obtained thereafter and wash the filter cake with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 7 to 7.5, and then dry the filter cake at 50° C. to 60° C. for 6 to 12 hours to obtain a layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure having a general chemical structure of:
[M2+1-xM′3+x(OH)2]x+A−x.αC.βH2O
wherein, x is 0.2-0.33, α is 0.2-6.6, and β is 0.3-3;
(2) under an inert atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere, calcinate the layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure to provide a calcinated product at a calcination temperature of 700° C. to 950° C. for a period of time of 0.5 to 3 hours;
(3) add the calcinated product into a hydrochloric acid solution with a concentration of 5 wt % for ultrasonic treatment, and separate the solution by centrifugation and wash the precipitate obtained by centrifugation with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 6.5 to 7 to obtain graphene.
In the layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure, the divalent metal ion M2+ and the trivalent metal ion M′3+ are located in the main body layer, wherein, x is the molar ratio of M′3+/(M2+M′3+), α is the number of the carbon source molecule C located between the layered double hydroxides layers, and β is the number of H2O molecules present between the layered double hydroxides layers.
In the above preparation method provided in the present invention, preferably, in step (1), the soluble salt of the divalent metal ion M2+ is one or more of a nitrate, a sulfate, an oxalate or a chloride of Mg or Zn; and the soluble salt of the trivalent metal ion M′3+ is one or more of a nitrate, a sulfate, an oxalate or a chloride of Al.
In the preparation method provided in the present invention, the molar ratio between the divalent metal ion M2+ and the trivalent metal ion M′3+ is preferably 2 to 4:1.
In the preparation method provided in the present invention, preferably, in the mixed salt solution in step (1), the overall concentration of the divalent metal ion M2+ and the trivalent metal ion M′3+ is 0.2 to 0.5 mol/L.
In the preparation method provided in the present invention, preferably, in step (1), the soluble salt of the chain alkyl anion A− is one or more of sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfonate, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, potassium dodecyl sulfate, potassium dodecyl sulfonate and potassium dodecyl benzene sulfonate. More preferably, the above soluble salt of the chain alkyl anion A− is sodium dodecyl sulfate.
In the preparation method provided in the present invention, preferably, in the mixed salt solution in step (1), the number of moles of the chain alkyl anion A− is equivalent to the number of moles of the trivalent metal ion M′3+.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (1), the carbon source molecule C is one or more of methyl methacrylate, n-pentane, benzene, toluene, xylene, and styrene.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in the mixed salt solution in step (1), the number of moles of the carbon source molecule C is 1 to 20 times of the number of moles of the trivalent metal ion M′3+.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (1), the alkali solution is a solution prepared by dissolving sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide into deionized and CO2-eliminated water with a concentration of 2 to 5 mol/L.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (1), the number of moles of the alkali in the alkali solution is twice of the total number of moles of the divalent metal ion M2+ and the trivalent metal ion M′3+.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (2), the inert atmosphere is a nitrogen atmosphere or an argon atmosphere, and the reducing atmosphere is a hydrogen atmosphere.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, during the ultrasonic treatment in step (3), the solid to liquid ratio between the calcinated product and the HCl solution (calcinated product/HCl solution) is 2 to 7 g/L.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (3), the duration of the ultrasonic treatment is 0.5 to 2 hours.
In the preparation method provided above in the present invention, preferably, in step (3), the revolution rate for the centrifugation is 5000 to 9000 rpm.
The structure of the graphene prepared is characterized with a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) as shown in
The method for preparing graphene provided in the present invention has advantages such as simple operation processes, capability of producing graphene with a regular structure and controllable number of layers in large scale. Further, liquid carbon sources are utilized in this preparation method, which is beneficial due to the wide range of raw material sources as well as good stability and safety and is promising in the future.
In the present example, a method for preparing graphene including the following steps is provided:
(1) Dissolve 0.075 mol magnesium nitrate hexahydrate, 0.025 mol aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, 0.025 mol sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 0.03 mol methyl methacrylate (MMA) in 300 mL deionized and CO2-eliminated water, mix with stirring under nitrogen protection to give a clear and transparent mixed salt solution;
under constant stirring with nitrogen protection, 80 mL of a 2.5 mol/L NaOH solution prepared with deionized and CO2-eliminated water is dripped into the above mixed salt solution to obtain a mixture solution;
under a nitrogen atmosphere, subject the above mixture solution to reaction at 80° C. for 8 hours, filter the suspension thus obtained, wash the filter cake with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 7.2, and then dry the filter cake at 50° C. for 12 hours to obtain a layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure designated as LDH-1.
[Mg2+0.75Al3+0.25(OH)2]0.25+(DS−)0.25.0.28MMA.2.4H2O.
(2) Under a nitrogen atmosphere, the abovementioned layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure is calcinated at 900° C. for 1 hour, and the calcinated product is obtained.
(3) Add 1 g calcinated product into 200 mL of a 5 mass % HCl solution and subject it to ultrasonic treatment for 1 hour, and then centrifuge at a revolution rate of 9000 rpm for 1 minute, and filter and wash the precipitate from the lower layer obtained by centrifugation with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 6.5 to provide the final product graphene G1.
In the present example, a method for preparing graphene including the following steps is provided:
(1) Dissolve 0.05 mol magnesium nitrate hexahydrate, 0.025 mol aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, 0.025 mol SDS and 0.22 mol MMA in 150 mL deionized and CO2-eliminated water, mix with stirring under nitrogen protection to give a clear and transparent mixed salt solution; under constant stirring with nitrogen protection, 30 mL of a 5 mol/L NaOH solution prepared with deionized and CO2-eliminated water is dripped into the above mixed salt solution to obtain a mixture solution; under a nitrogen atmosphere, subject the above mixture solution to reaction at 70° C. for 10 hours, filter the suspension thus obtained, wash the filter cake with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 7.5, and then dry the filter cake at 60° C. for 8 hours to obtain layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure designated as LDH-2.
[Mg2+0.75Al3+0.25(OH)2]0.25+(DS−)0.25.1.1MMA.0.9H2O.
(2) Under a nitrogen atmosphere, the abovementioned layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure is calcinated at 700° C. for 3 hours, and the calcinated product is obtained.
(3) Add 1 g calcinated product into 500 mL of a 5 mass % HCl solution and subject it to ultrasonic treatment for 0.5 hour, and then centrifuge at a revolution rate of 7000 rpm for 5 minutes, and filter and wash the precipitate from the lower layer obtained by centrifugation with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 7.0 to provide the final product graphene G2.
In the present example, a method for preparing graphene including the following steps is provided:
(1) Dissolve 0.1 mol magnesium nitrate hexahydrate, 0.025 mol aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, 0.025 mol SDS and 0.5 mol MMA in 300 mL deionized and CO2-eliminated water, mix with stirring under nitrogen protection to give a clear and transparent mixed salt solution; under constant stirring with nitrogen protection, 125 mL of a 2 mol/L NaOH solution prepared with deionized and CO2-eliminated water is dripped into the above mixed salt solution to obtain a mixture solution; under a nitrogen atmosphere, subject the above mixture solution to reaction at 60° C. for 6 hours, filter the suspension thus obtained, wash the filter cake with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 7.0, and then dry the filter cake at 55° C. for 6 hours to obtain layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure designated as LDH-3.
[Mg2+0.75Al3+0.25(OH)2]0.25+(DS−)0.25.1.9MMA.0.3H2O.
(2) Under a nitrogen atmosphere, the abovementioned layered double hydroxides with an intercalated structure is calcinated at 800° C. for 0.5 hour, and the calcinated product is obtained.
(3) Add 1 g calcinated product into 500 mL of a 5 mass % HCl solution and subject it to ultrasonic treatment for 1.5 hours, and then centrifuge at a revolution rate of 5000 rpm for 7 minutes, and filter and wash the precipitate from the lower layer obtained by centrifugation with deionized water until the pH of the filtrate is 6.8 to provide the final product graphene G3.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012 1 0038611 | Feb 2012 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/CN2012/073108 | 3/27/2012 | WO | 00 | 7/19/2013 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2013/120307 | 8/22/2013 | WO | A |
Entry |
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Zhang, W. et al., “A Strategy for Producing Pure Single-Layer Graphene Sheets Based on a Confined Self-Assembly Approach,” Angewandte Chemie 121(32):5978-5982, Jul. 27, 2009. |
Novoselov, K.S. et al., “Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films,” Science 306(5696):666-669, Oct. 22, 2004. |
Kim, Keun Soo et al., “Large-Scale Pattern Growth of Graphene Films for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes,” Nature 457(7230):706-710, Feb. 5, 2009. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20140154165 A1 | Jun 2014 | US |