Versatile and scalable synthesis of graphene nanoribbons

Choucair, M; Gong, B; Stride, JA

Versatile and scalable synthesis of graphene nanoribbons

Date

2014-03-15

Authors

Choucair, M

Gong, B

Stride, JA

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

The inability to readily upscale nanofabrication of carbon nanomaterials often restricts their application, despite outstanding performances reported in both the research laboratory and prototype stages. Here we report the direct chemical synthesis of graphene nanoribbons by a bottom-up approach based on the common laboratory reagents sodium and propanol; these are solvothermally reacted to give an intermediate precursor that is then rapidly pyrolized yielding single- and few-layer graphene nanoribbons. Our results show that confinement of the lateral dimensions of graphene can be achieved simply by varying the alcohol feedstock. The ability to produce bulk quantities of graphene nanoribbons by a low cost and scalable approach is anticipated to enable a wider range of affordable real-world graphene applications. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Carbon, Graphene, Propanols, Synthesis, Sodium, Uses

Citation

Choucair, M., Gong, B., & Stride, J. A. (2014). Versatile and scalable synthesis of graphene nanoribbons. Materials Letters, 119, 75-78. doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2013.12.084