Understanding graphene production by ionic surfactant exfoliation: a molecular dynamics simulation study

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Publication Type pre-print
School or College College of Engineering
Department Materials Science & Engineering
Creator Liu, Feng
Other Author Yang, Peng
Title Understanding graphene production by ionic surfactant exfoliation: a molecular dynamics simulation study
Date 2014-01-01
Description We have simulated sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant/waterþbilayer graphene mixture system to investigate two mechanisms of graphene exfoliation: changing the interlayer distance and sliding away the relative distance. By calculating the total energy as a function of the interlayer (sliding-away) distance at different surface-coverage concentrations of SDS surfactant (SDS concentrations), we obtain the separation energy barriers underlying the two mechanisms and their dependence on SDS concentration. Overall, in the first process, the energy barrier can only be reduced by the SDS slightly, which is too big to be viable. While in the second process, the energy barrier can be first decreased continuously with the increasing SDS concentration until it almost completely disappear in the optimal SDS concentration range (1.5-2.0/nm2) and then increase again with the further increase in SDS concentration. Therefore, the second sliding-away mechanism is a more viable separation process. The analysis of SDS anion density profile on the graphene surface indicates that the graphene-surfactant interaction plays an important role in the separation process by stabilizing the separated graphene sheet.
Type Text
Publisher American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Volume 116
Issue 1
First Page 014304-1
Last Page 014304-7
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Yang, P., & Liu, F. (2014). Understanding graphene production by ionic surfactant exfoliation: a molecular dynamics simulation study. Journal of Applied Physics, 116(1), 014304-1-014304-7.
Rights Management (c)American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Yang, P., & Liu, F., Journal of Applied Physics, 116(1), 2014 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4885159.
Format Medium application/pdf
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Identifier uspace,18825
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Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6g198x1