Fabrication and evaluation of graphene-based materials through electrochemical exfoliation and expansion mechanism

Graphene-based materials (GBM) have been attracting great interest from the viewpoint of science and engineering aspect, attributed to their unique characteristics and versatile applications. However, the development of GBM is limited because of high preparation cost, safety issues and process ineffectiveness. Herein, we fabricated GBM through electrochemical anodic exfoliation process by using low-cost graphite-based precursors i.e., pencil core and discharged-battery cylinder as an anode with inorganic salt electrolytes in the electrochemical reaction system. We evaluated the GBM by using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). We showed that the graphite-based precursors could easily exfoliated into GBM then produce a high quantity of GBM in just 1 hour. We observed the pronounced peaks of D, G and 2D band on the Raman spectra of the as-synthesized GBM. We evaluated the structure of graphene-based material through XRD analysis. In conclusion, this electrochemical anodic exfoliation process could be developed as an important approach in order to fabricate GBM in an efficient and effective pathway for various applications including the development of component for energy storage devices or electronic applications.