Research

Research

Graphene Quantum Dots by One Pot Synthesis Directly from Graphite in High Yield and Mass Production

  • POSTED DATE : 2014-04-23
  • WRITER :
  • HIT : 3312
  • Researcher : Yonghun Shin, Hyoyoung Lee*
 

Graphite is a well-known carbon-based material, which is comprised of stacks of flat graphene sheets.

It is one of the most readily available and inexpensive precursor materials of bulk GO. Until now, various GQDs with one, two, or a few layers have been synthesized from GO, but not from graphite.

we have successfully developed a one pot synthesis of GQDs directly from graphite using high powered microwave irradiation under acidic and oxidative conditions in high yield and with production in mass.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the fi rst time that GQDs have been produced directly from graphite by using such a technique

that allows oxidative cleavage of graphite and in situ rearomatization. The newly synthesized GQDs with a narrow size distribution (2–10 nm) and 1–4 layers of graphene sheets exhibit blue luminescence. This simple, novel method allows an extremely high yield (70 ± 5 wt%) of GQDs, and the reaction time is dramatically shortened to less than 1 h, which could be easily applicable in industrial manufacturing.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have received increasing attention in nanoscience and nanotechnology due to properties that include large surface area, low cytotoxicity, excellent solubility, and a tunable bandgap.

In particular GQDs have utility for various potential applications including optoelectronic devices, biological imaging and labeling, and electroluminescence as light-emitting diodes. GQDs consist of from single to ten-layered graphene sheets with smaller than 100 nm

lateral dimensions and show remarkably strong quantum confinement and edge effects because of their zero dimensions (0D), in comparison to graphene nanoribbons