Direct and efficient conversion from low-quality graphite to high-quality graphene nanoplatelets

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Low-quality graphite (L-graphite), containing various impurities (<I>e.g.</I>, metals and inorganics), can be directly and efficiently converted into high-quality iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets (HIGnPs) <I>via</I> mechanochemical ball-milling in the presence of iodine (I<SUB>2</SUB>) with subsequent work-up procedures. Despite using L-graphite, the resultant HIGnPs show high-quality characteristics, including large specific surface area (969 m<SUP>2</SUP> g<SUP>−1</SUP>), lower metallic residues, and well-maintained graphitic structure. In addition, HIGnPs display remarkable electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), involving benefits such as higher selectivity, longer-term stability, and better tolerance to methanol crossover/CO poisoning effects. Therefore, simple mechanochemical ball-milling in solid state can produce high-quality graphene nanoplatelets in large quantity at low-cost for commercialization, regardless of the initial quality of the graphite.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Low-quality graphite was simply converted into high-quality iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets. </LI> <LI> Despite using low-quality graphite, the iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets show high-quality characteristics. </LI> <LI> Iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets have large specific surface area of 969 m<SUP>2</SUP> g<SUP>−1</SUP>. </LI> <LI> Iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets display remarkable electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction. </LI> <LI> High-quality graphene nanoplatelets can be produced <I>via</I> simple mechanochemical ball-milling large quantity at low-cost. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>High-quality iodine-doped graphene nanoplatelets (HIGnPs) were prepared <I>via</I> mechanochemical ball-milling low-quality graphite (L-graphite) in the presence of iodine (I<SUB>2</SUB>) with subsequent work-up procedures. The resultant HIGnPs exhibit large specific surface area (969 m<SUP>2</SUP> g<SUP>−1</SUP>), lower metallic residues, and well-maintained graphitic structure. In addition, HIGnPs show excellent electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).</P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>