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2010
Conference Paper
Titel
Graphene - new filler material for advanced composites
Abstract
Graphene, a monolayer form of carbon with a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, has shown many interesting properties from the mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical point of view. These properties make graphene a material of interest for many applications, for example in the fields of electronics, sensors, energy storage and conversion as well as composite materials. These engineering applications require availability of graphene on the mass scale and thus the development of suitable processes is necessary. Up till now, several synthesis routes have been introduces including micromechanical cleavage, epitaxial growth and chemical synthesis. This talk introduces possible routes of graphene synthesis with the focus on three specific production methods, which are chemical vapour deposition (CVD), exfoliation of graphite via oxidation step followed by reduction of graphene oxide, and electrochemical synthesis route. For each of the methods, processing steps are presented. The specific characteristics of the resulting materials are discussed. Following, the suggestions for post-synthesis treatment methods are given. Furthermore, the evaluation of those synthesis routes and graphene materials is conducted from the point of view of their potential of scalability for industrial applications. Finally, the possibilities of graphene integration into polymer based systems are discussed with the examples of producing graphene coatings on polymeric substrates, decoration/functionalization of graphene sheets with polymers as well as production of graphene-polymer composites. Main characteristics of those systems are discussed indicating their applicability in specific products.