Exfoliation of Graphene from Graphite Facilitated by Chemical Edge-Decoration

The common method for producing graphene, the oxidation and reduction method, is not green due to application of corrosive oxidants and reductants, and the obtained graphene is rich in surface defects. Here, we show a novel edge-decoration strategy for the facile exfoliation of graphene layers from graphite. By grafting methyl isopropyl ketone (MIBK) onto the edges of graphite via the aldol condensation reaction, the dense graphene layers become loose, facilitating the exfoliation process and promoting largely the graphene yield from 1.6 to 10.9 wt %. The edge-decoration strategy produces graphene with 5-10 layers and few surface defects. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and activation experiments prove that the edges of graphite reacted with MIBK via C=O as the active site, causing the grafting of MIBK. We anticipate that the edge-decoration strategy will show great potential in the large-scale production of graphene due to its high efficiency and greenness.