Exfoliated Nanographite Inorganic-Based Composite Using Microfluidization

TL;DR

This paper presents a scalable and clean method to produce high-quality exfoliated nanographite using microfluidization, enabling its use in inorganic composites for coatings and photonics.

Contribution

A novel scalable method for producing high-quality exfoliated nanographite with controlled concentration and minimal structural damage.

Findings

Exfoliated nanographite flakes with dozens of graphene layers and micrometer-scale lateral dimensions were produced.

The method allows control over the concentration of exfoliated nanographite.

Successful integration into an inorganic composite based on sodium silicate for uniform thin film fabrication.

Abstract

Producing a few layers of nanographite flakes while maintaining
micrometer-scale lateral dimensions remains a long-standing challenge.
Conventional chemical and mechanical exfoliation methods are often
costly, toxic, and difficult to scale, and they might also cause structural
defects and debris. Our work addresses these issues, providing a scalable
and cleaner route to high-quality exfoliated nanographite by using
microfluidization. Through combined sequential processes of ultrasonication
and microfluidization, we developed a methodology to produce exfoliated
graphite flakes down to dozens of graphene layers while preserving
the original micrometric sheet sizes. With the proposed methodology,
it is also possible to control the concentration of the exfoliated
nanographite obtained. Finally, we demonstrate the successful incorporation
of the exfoliated nanographite into an inorganic-based composite based
on sodium silicate, which ensures strong surface interaction and enables
the fabrication of uniform thin films. The development of this composite
expands the functional scope of exfoliated graphite for applications
in coatings, optics, and photonics.

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