Precise control of the interlayer spacing between graphene sheets by hydrated cations

Abstract

Recently, we have demonstrated that highly efficient ion rejection by graphene oxide membranes can be facilely achieved using hydrated cations to control the interlayer spacing in GO membranes. By using density functional theory calculations, we have shown that different hydrated cations can also precisely control the interlayer spacings between graphene sheets, which are smaller than graphene oxide sheets; this indicates ion sieving. The interlayer distances are 9.35, 8.96 and 8.82 Å for hydrated Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺, respectively. Since the radii of the hydrated Na⁺ and Li⁺ ions are larger than that of hydrated K⁺, graphene membranes controlled by the hydrated K⁺ ion can exclude K⁺ and the other two cations with larger hydrated volumes. Further analysis of charge transfer and orbit analysis showed that this type of control by the hydrated cations is attributed to the strong hydrated cation–π interactions; moreover, when soaked in a salt solution, graphene membranes adsorb hydrated Na⁺ and Li⁺ and form intercalation compounds. However, it is hard to find K-doped intercalation compounds in the inner part of graphene.