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Spontaneous Formation of Liquid Crystals in Ultralarge Graphene Oxide Dispersions
Author(s) -
Aboutalebi Seyed Hamed,
Gudarzi Mohsen Moazzami,
Zheng Qing Bin,
Kim JangKyo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201100448
Subject(s) - materials science , graphene , oxide , exfoliation joint , lyotropic , graphite , liquid crystal , graphene oxide paper , colloid , chemical engineering , nanocomposite , nanotechnology , graphite oxide , nanostructure , composite material , liquid crystalline , optoelectronics , metallurgy , engineering
A novel process is developed to synthesize graphene oxide sheets with an ultralarge size based on a solution‐phase method involving pre‐exfoliation of graphite flakes. Spontaneous formation of lyotropic nematic liquid crystals is identified upon the addition of the ultralarge graphene oxide sheets in water above a critical concentration of about 0.1 wt%. It is the lowest filler content ever reported for the formation of liquid crystals from any colloid, arising mainly from the ultrahigh aspect ratio of the graphene oxide sheets of over 30 000. It is proposed that the self‐assembled brick‐like graphene oxide nanostructure can be applied in many areas, such as energy‐storage devices and nanocomposites with a high degree of orientation.