Synthesis of soluble graphene nanosheets from graphite fluoride in low-temperature molten hydroxides

•A novel synthesis of graphene nanosheets from graphite fluoride is presented.•The molten hydroxides play a key role in preparation of graphene nanosheets.•A well-dispersed graphene nanosheets solution is achieved.•This method is facile, cost-effective and easy to scale up.

A facile but efficient method has been developed to prepare graphene nanosheets (GNS) by reacting graphite fluoride with molten hydroxides at low temperature. Through the reaction, the resultant product shows a good dispersion in ethanol solution to self-exfoliate into GNS. The morphology and structure of GNS were characterized by microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, respectively. The results indicate that the GNS exhibit wrinkled structure with small sheet thickness and contain low quantities of oxygen functional groups arising from the displacement of fluorine atoms by hydroxyl radicals. This study provides a cost-effective route to large-scale production of soluble GNS for many potential applications.