We report for the first time, the synthesis of highly stable exfoliated graphene based nanofluids with water and ethylene glycol as base fluids with out any surfactant and the subsequent studies on their thermal and electrical conductivities. Graphene was synthesized by thermal exfoliation of graphene oxide at 1050 °C in Ar atmosphere. The as-synthesized graphene has been suitably functionalized and further dispersed it in the base fluids without any surfactant. Thermal and electrical conductivities of these nanofluids were measured for varying volume fractions and at different temperatures. An enhancement in thermal conductivity by about 14% has been achieved at 25 °C with deionized water (DI) as base fluid at a very low volume fraction of 0.056% which increases to about 64% at 50 °C. Electrical conductivity measurements for these nanofluids indicate an enormous enhancement at 25 °C for a volume fraction of 0.03%in DI water.
In the present work, we have systematically investigated the effect of different exfoliation conditions on the synthesis of graphene from graphite oxide (GO). Four different conditions were used to exfoliate GO: Ar @ 1050 °C, vacuum @ 200 °C, H2 + Ar mixture @ 200 °C, and H2 @ 200 °C. Few layered graphenes obtained by these methods were characterized by thermogravimetry, diffractometry, spectroscopy, microscopy, surface, and elemental analysis techniques. New insights obtained upon a detailed analysis of these are presented. Although the morphology and characteristics of these graphenes are similar, differences are observed in the amount of functional groups present, resulting in considerable change in their electrical properties. These results show conclusively that the atmosphere for exfoliation of GO plays a critical role in low temperature syntheses of graphene. It is observed that exfoliation-reduction of GO in pure hydrogen atmosphere at 200 °C results in the highest quality of a few layered graphene sheets.
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