Growing three-dimensional biomorphic graphene powders using naturally abundant diatomite templates towards high solution processability.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27819652.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13440 and PMC identifier 5103074.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Mass production of high-quality graphene with low cost is the footstone for its widespread practical applications. We present herein a self-limited growth approach for producing graphene powders by a small-methane-flow chemical vapour deposition process on naturally abundant and industrially widely used diatomite (biosilica) substrates. Distinct from the chemically exfoliated graphene, thus-produced biomorphic graphene is highly crystallized with atomic layer-thickness controllability, structural designability and less noncarbon impurities. In particular, the individual graphene microarchitectures preserve a three-dimensional naturally curved surface morphology of original diatom frustules, effectively overcoming the interlayer stacking and hence giving excellent dispersion performance in fabricating solution-processible electrodes. The graphene films derived from as-made graphene powders, compatible with either rod-coating, or inkjet and roll-to-roll printing techniques, exhibit much higher electrical conductivity (∼110,700 S m<sup>-1</sup> at 80% transmittance) than previously reported solution-based counterparts. This work thus puts forward a practical route for low-cost mass production of various powdery two-dimensional materials.