Facile electrochemical synthesis of triangle-shaped graphene nanoflakes and graphene quantum dots via surfactant-assisted and defect-induced mechanism

Wan Hazman Danial; Noriliya Aina Norhisham; Ahmad Fakhrurrazi Ahmad Noorden; Zaiton Abdul Majid

doi:10.6180/jase.202206_25(3).0016

Facile electrochemical synthesis of triangle-shaped graphene nanoflakes and graphene quantum dots via surfactant-assisted and defect-induced mechanism

Wan Hazman Danial This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.¹, Noriliya Aina Norhisham¹, Ahmad Fakhrurrazi Ahmad Noorden², and Zaiton Abdul Majid³

¹Department of Chemistry, Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
²Advanced Optoelectronics Research Group (CAPTOR), Department of Physics, Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
³Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Received: December 12, 2020
Accepted: May 10, 2021
Publication Date: October 22, 2021

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202206_25(3).0016

ABSTRACT

A facile and non-hazardous route for synthesis of triangle-shaped graphene nanoflakes and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) suspension via electrochemical exfoliation has been reported. In this work, a simple electrochemical technique was employed using pristine and heated graphite electrodes under the influence of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS). The synthesized graphene nanoflakes and GQDs suspension were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Raman Spectroscopy. The UV absorption spectra showed a bathochromic shift from the typical π → π* transition peak which due to the introduction of oxygen groups and/or functionalization of SDBS into the graphitic layers. Morphological analyses using TEM revealed the usage of heated graphite electrodes (600 °C at 5 min) produced a triangle-shaped graphene nanoflakes with an average size of ∼34 nm while the average size of the graphene nanoflakes obtained using the pristine graphite is ∼47 nm. A possible mechanism for the exfoliation of such morphology has been proposed. The graphene nanoflakes which have size less than 10 nm from both samples can be attributed to the presence of the GQDs. Raman analysis revealed ID/IG ratio of 0.223 and 0.203 for graphene nanoflakes electrochemically exfoliated from pristine and heated graphite respectively, which signifies a better quality and crystallinity and has low defects within the conjugated graphene backbone. The utilization of this electrochemical approach might expectantly pave the way towards the production of graphene nanoflakes with controlled morphology and low structural defects, which can be an efficient top-down process yet feasible for mass production.

Keywords: Electrochemical, exfoliation, graphene nanoflakes, graphene quantum dots, triangle-shaped

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