Properties of graphite in water with addition of ammonia solution / Nurin Jazlina Ahmad

Finding a facile and cost-efficient solvent for production of finest carbon based on
graphite is highly demanded in order to bring graphite closer to the real-world
applications. Due to the hydrophobicity characteristics of the graphite makes it
impossible for the water to be used as solvent to exfoliate graphite although water
is the most widely used green solvent. In this study, the finest carbon material is
synthesized by directly exfoliated the graphite in deionized water without any
surfactants and polymers. The exfoliation of few-layers graphite nanosheets from
pristine graphite can be achieved by small addition of ammonia solution. The
concentration of the ammonia solution varies from 18% to 26%. The release of
gaseous ammonia solution plays important role in the exfoliation process. The
structural properties of the graphite were examined using XRD, Raman Analysis
and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) followed by UV-Vis Spectroscopy for
its optical properties. 24% and 26% ammonia concentration are the optimum
condition to produce finest carbon material in the form of multi-layered graphite.