Coke-derived few layer graphene-like materials by mild planetary milling exfoliation

[Display omitted] •Graphene and graphene-like materials can be obtained from different carbonaceous sources.•One hour exfoliation treatment leads to near quantitative yield of high quality products.•Process allows cokes to be used as an inexpensive source of 2D carbon materials. Graphene-like few layer materials offer the possibility of being used in numerous applications, however a convenient procedure to acquire them from readily and inexpensive sources is still lacking. Reported methods rely on the Hummers oxidation of cokes followed by their reduction to the corresponding graphene-like products. Herein the near-quantitative direct acquisition of 1–4 nm thick coke exfoliates with 1 µm lateral size is here demonstrated. One to four-hour one-step milling of cokes in the presence of stearic acid avoids the oxidation of the materials, allowing the preparation of pristine graphene-like derivatives. The exfoliated products were characterized by XRD, BET surface area and thermogravimetric analysis, XPS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy as well as AFM and TEM. Observation of the products by FTIR and XPS suggest they have not been oxidized, while BET analysis indicates their time-dependent size reduction and enhanced surface area, as supported by the results obtained by TGA. The few-layer and sheet-like morphology of the products is revealed by AFM and TEM observations. ABS composites with some of the materials show enhanced Young’s modulus and tenacity, indicating their potential use in the injection molding manufacturing of autoparts.