Graphene-based composite materials
Top Cited Papers
- 1 July 2006
- journal article
- letter
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 442 (7100), 282-286
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04969
Abstract
Graphene sheets—one-atom-thick two-dimensional layers of sp2-bonded carbon—are predicted to have a range of unusual properties. Their thermal conductivity and mechanical stiffness may rival the remarkable in-plane values for graphite (∼3,000 W m-1 K-1 and 1,060 GPa, respectively); their fracture strength should be comparable to that of carbon nanotubes for similar types of defects1,2,3; and recent studies have shown that individual graphene sheets have extraordinary electronic transport properties4,5,6,7,8. One possible route to harnessing these properties for applications would be to incorporate graphene sheets in a composite material. The manufacturing of such composites requires not only that graphene sheets be produced on a sufficient scale but that they also be incorporated, and homogeneously distributed, into various matrices. Graphite, inexpensive and available in large quantity, unfortunately does not readily exfoliate to yield individual graphene sheets. Here we present a general approach for the preparation of graphene-polymer composites via complete exfoliation of graphite9 and molecular-level dispersion of individual, chemically modified graphene sheets within polymer hosts. A polystyrene–graphene composite formed by this route exhibits a percolation threshold10 of ∼0.1 volume per cent for room-temperature electrical conductivity, the lowest reported value for any carbon-based composite except for those involving carbon nanotubes11; at only 1 volume per cent, this composite has a conductivity of ∼0.1 S m-1, sufficient for many electrical applications12. Our bottom-up chemical approach of tuning the graphene sheet properties provides a path to a broad new class of graphene-based materials and their use in a variety of applications.Keywords
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Stable aqueous dispersions of graphitic nanoplatelets via the reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide in the presence of poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2005
- Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in grapheneNature, 2005
- Experimental observation of the quantum Hall effect and Berry's phase in grapheneNature, 2005
- Electric Field Modulation of Galvanomagnetic Properties of Mesoscopic GraphitePhysical Review Letters, 2005
- Ultrathin Epitaxial Graphite: 2D Electron Gas Properties and a Route toward Graphene-based NanoelectronicsThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2004
- Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon FilmsScience, 2004
- Intercalation compounds of graphiteAdvances in Physics, 2002
- Strength and Breaking Mechanism of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Under Tensile LoadScience, 2000
- Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Ultrathin Composite Films from Micron-Sized Graphite Oxide Sheets and PolycationsChemistry of Materials, 1999
- Ultrathin graphite oxide–polyelectrolyte composites prepared by self‐assembly: Transition between conductive and non‐conductive statesAdvanced Materials, 1996