A novel synthesis route of graphene via microwave assisted intercalation-exfoliation of graphite

This work presents a facile and novel method to fabricate graphene via microwave-assisted NH3 molecule intercalation-exfoliation of graphite. Specifically, dibasic ester (DBE) was chosen as the solvent due to its suitable surface energy and nontoxicity. The microstructure of as-prepared samples was characterized by Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectrometry, and Field emission scanning electron microscopy. The mechanism of above-mentioned method was preliminarily investigated. The results show that the size of as-prepared graphene is larger than 3 μm with few-layer structure. Microwave radiation can increase both the disorder degree and interplanar distance of graphite, which makes small molecule ammonia easily exfoliate graphite into graphene. This method is fast, convenient, and low-cost. It opens up a new way to grapheme fabrication.