title: Large-Scale Production of Nanographite by Tube-Shear Exfoliation in Water.
abstract: The number of applications based on graphene, few-layer graphene, and nanographite is rapidly increasing. A large-scale process for production of these materials is critically needed to achieve cost-effective commercial products. Here, we present a novel process to mechanically exfoliate industrial quantities of nanographite from graphite in an aqueous environment with low energy consumption and at controlled shear conditions. This process, based on hydrodynamic tube shearing, produced nanometer-thick and micrometer-wide flakes of nanographite with a production rate exceeding 500 gh-1 with an energy consumption about 10 Whg-1. In addition, to facilitate large-area coating, we show that the nanographite can be mixed with nanofibrillated cellulose in the process to form highly conductive, robust and environmentally friendly composites. This composite has a sheet resistance below 1.75 Ω/sq and an electrical resistivity of 1.39×10-4 Ωm and may find use in several applications, from supercapacitors and batteries to printed electronics and solar cells. A batch of 100 liter was processed in less than 4 hours. The design of the process allow scaling to even larger volumes and the low energy consumption indicates a low-cost process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.|STT Emtec AB, SE-852 29 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nicklas
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4303-2585
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Blomquist
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Christine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Engström
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hummelgård
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andres
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forsberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olin
mesh_terms: D017097:Electric Impedance; D004566:Electrodes; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation; D010316:Particle Size; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D006108:Graphite