High‐Throughput Continuous Production of Shear‐Exfoliated 2D Layered Materials using Compressible Flows

Abstract

2D nanomaterials are finding numerous applications in next-generation electronics, consumer goods, energy generation and storage, and healthcare. The rapid rise of utility and applications for 2D nanomaterials necessitates developing means for their mass production. This study details a new compressible flow exfoliation method for producing 2D nanomaterials using a multiphase flow of 2D layered materials suspended in a high-pressure gas undergoing expansion. The expanded gas-solid mixture is sprayed in a suitable solvent, where a significant portion (up to 10% yield) of the initial hexagonal boron nitride material is found to be exfoliated with a mean thickness of 4.2 nm. The exfoliation is attributed to the high shear rates (γ˙ > 10 s ) generated by supersonic flow of compressible gases inside narrow orifices and converging-diverging channels. This method has significant advantages over current 2D material exfoliation methods, such as chemical intercalation and exfoliation, as well as liquid phase shear exfoliation, with the most obvious benefit being the fast, continuous nature of the process. Other advantages include environmentally friendly processing, reduced occurrence of defects, and the versatility to be applied to any 2D layered material using any gaseous medium. Scaling this process to industrial production has a strong possibility of reducing the cost of creating 2D nanomaterials.

Fatigue analysis and fracture toughness of graphene reinforced carbon fibre polymer composites

“…[22][23][24][25][26] However, the use of increased amount of GnPs degrades mechanical properties because of the nanoparticles' agglomeration. [27][28][29][30][31] Though significant researches have been carried out to study the mechanical properties of GnPs-polymer composites, the study on the mechanical properties of GnP added FRPs is scarce. 27,32 It has been reported that the incorporation of GnPs improved static and tensile fatigue behaviour of the FRPs; however, improving flexural fatigue behaviour is more challenging as it is dominated by matrix and interfacial properties.…”

Graphene's Role in Emerging Trends of Capacitive Energy Storage

“…[28] Our group has reported a compressible gas flow exfoliation method by utilizing a series of narrow converging-diverging channels. [29] In this process, 2D layered materials are suspended and carried through these narrow orifices using a high-pressure gas undergoing rapid expansion. The resulting 2D layered materials are exfoliated due to the high shear rates generated by supersonic flow.…”

Application of Dielectric Thermal Analysis to Screen Electrical Insulation Candidates for High-Voltage Electric Machines

“…After the exfoliation procedure, the thickness of the BNNS was between ∼100 and 800 nm. 20 SEM images of the exfoliated BNNS can be found in the Supporting Information .…”