Recent Advances of Porous Graphene: Synthesis, Functionalization, and Electrochemical Applications

Abstract

Graphene is a 2D sheet of sp2 bonded carbon atoms and tends to aggregate together, due to the strong π–π stacking and van der Waals attraction between different layers. Its unique properties such as a high specific surface area and a fast mass transport rate are severely blocked. To address these issues, various kinds of 2D holey graphene and 3D porous graphene are either self‐assembled from graphene layers or fabricated using graphene related materials such as graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide. Porous graphene not only possesses unique pore structures, but also introduces abundant exposed edges and accelerates mass transfer. The properties and applications of these porous graphenes and their composites/hybrids have been extensively studied in recent years. Herein, recent progress and achievements in synthesis and functionalization of various 2D holey graphene and 3D porous graphene are reviewed. Of special interest, electrochemical applications of porous graphene and its hybrids in the fields of electrochemical sensing, electrocatalysis, and electrochemical energy storage, are highlighted. As the closing remarks, the challenges and opportunities for the future research of porous graphene and its composites are discussed and outlined.

Performance Evaluation of Porous Graphene as Filter Media for the Removal of Pharmaceutical/Emerging Contaminants from Water and Wastewater

“…PG has an average composition of carbon element exceeding 91% as previously characterised and mentioned in our reports [ 19 , 20 ]. These results are in line with several reports in the literature for the synthesis of PGs [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

From 2D Graphene Nanosheets to 3D Graphene‐based Macrostructures

“…Such high structural quality graphene with high conductivity is expected to be beneficial for most of applications. However, due to strong van der Waals interactions and π–π stacking between graphene layers, these graphene materials may easily be restacked and aggregated which significantly affects the SSA, inhibits the mass transport rate of electrons which can limit its functions …”

“…The CVD approach has been reported as a useful method for developing 3D graphene nanostructures that can enable the mass production of high‐quality graphene materials within complex 3D architectures with controllable crystallinity and layer numbers, significantly enhancing the efficiency of graphene‐based energy devices . Generally, in CVD techniques, there are two routes often used in the production of 3D GBMs which are: (i) synthesis of 3D graphene composite materials and (ii) synthesis of 3D pure graphene after metal catalyst and oxide removal.…”

Bioinspired Design of Graphene‐Based Materials

“…While these artificial structures are bioinspired on a fundamental level, most of the efforts in the field are not directly correlated to the natural counterparts; thus, they are not included in the present paper and we direct the interested reader to several recent reviews. [151][152][153][154][155][156] Depending on the synthetic approach employed to build the 3D porous structure, a wide range of different architectures might be envisioned, [157] from simple sponge-like porous structures, to aligned micro-and nano-channels, from closed-cell foams to hierarchical regular structures.…”