Ultrasonic-Assisted Exfoliation of Pristine Graphite into few Layers of Graphene Sheets Using NH₃ as Intercalation Agent

Abstract

Few-layer graphene sheets were synthesis using LPE with ultrasonic-assisted. The pristine graphite is directly exfoliated in deionized water with small addition of NH3 solution. In this study, we will investigate the relationship between concentration of NH3 solution corresponds to the graphene yield. The concentration of the NH3 solution varies from 18% to 26%. NH3 solution plays an important role as a medium to peel of graphite in the exfoliation process to form few-layer graphene sheets. The structural properties of the few-layer graphene sheets were examined using XRD, Raman Analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) followed by UV-Vis Spectroscopy for its optical properties. The finest of few-layer graphene sheets was produced at 26% of NH3 concentration. This optimization results in a few layers of graphene sheets that may be used in the fields of nanoelectronics and optoelectronics.