Issue 22, 2012

Three-dimensional assemblies of graphene prepared by a novel chemical reduction-induced self-assembly method

Abstract

In this study, three-dimensional (3D) graphene assemblies are prepared from graphene oxide (GO) by a facile in situ reduction-assembly method, using a novel, low-cost, and environment-friendly reducing medium which is a combination of oxalic acid (OA) and sodium iodide (NaI). It is demonstrated that the combination of a reducing acid, OA, and NaI is indispensable for effective reduction of GO in the current study and this unique combination (1) allows for tunable control over the volume of the thus-prepared graphene assemblies and (2) enables 3D graphene assemblies to be prepared from the GO suspension with a wide range of concentrations (0.1 to 4.5 mg mL−1). To the best of our knowledge, the GO concentration of 0.1 mg mL−1 is the lowest GO concentration ever reported for preparation of 3D graphene assemblies. The thus-prepared 3D graphene assemblies exhibit low density, highly porous structures, and electrically conducting properties. As a proof of concept, we show that by infiltrating a responsive polymer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into the as-resulted 3D conducting network of graphene, a conducting composite is obtained, which can be used as a sensing device for differentiating organic solvents with different polarity.

Graphical abstract: Three-dimensional assemblies of graphene prepared by a novel chemical reduction-induced self-assembly method

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Aug 2012
Accepted
13 Sep 2012
First published
17 Sep 2012

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 7038-7045

Three-dimensional assemblies of graphene prepared by a novel chemical reduction-induced self-assembly method

L. Zhang, G. Chen, M. N. Hedhili, H. Zhang and P. Wang, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 7038 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR32157B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements