A novel 'bottom-up' synthesis of few- and multi-layer graphene platelets with partial oxidation via cavitation.

The transient cavitation of diaromatic components such as 1-methylnaphthalene has been used to produce graphene platelets in a 'bottom-up' synthesis via the high temperature (>5000 K) conditions that are generated inside collapsing bubbles. Acoustic cavitation produced yields of 5.7 × 10-11 kgJ-1 at a production rate of 2.2 × 10-9 kgs-1. This can be improved by generating cavitation hydrodynamically, thus making commercial scale production viable. Hydrodynamic cavitation produced platelets with larger lateral dimensions (≥2 µm) than those formed by acoustic cavitation (10-200 nm). The partially oxidised nature of the platelets enables their covalent chemical functionalisation, which was achieved by combining suitable molecules in the reaction medium to affect a one-pot formation and functionalisation of graphene.