School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore.
Sci Rep. 2013 Oct 24;3:3037. doi: 10.1038/srep03037.
This study reports on a facile and economical method for the scalable continuous synthesis of graphene sheets by the thermocatalytic decomposition of methane using a unique and novel unsupported catalyst of iron particles. Single-layered and few-layered graphene sheets were continuously synthesized by the isothermal decomposition reaction of methane over a catalyst of iron particles under atmospheric pressure without the need for a cooling precipitation process. In contrast with the methods currently reported in the published literature, this method exhibits remarkably high capacity and efficiency in terms of graphene throughput and yield, respectively. A maximum graphene yield rate of 20 mg/min per g of catalyst and a graphene output of 6 g per g of catalyst were achieved in this study; this graphene output has far surpassed the best graphene yield of 50 mg per 500 mg of catalyst, thus reported so far, by 60 times.
本研究报告了一种简便、经济的方法，通过使用独特新颖的无载体铁颗粒催化剂，热催化分解甲烷来大规模连续合成石墨烯片。在大气压下，通过铁颗粒催化剂的甲烷等温分解反应，连续合成单层和少层石墨烯片，而无需冷却沉淀过程。与目前已发表文献中报道的方法相比，该方法在石墨烯的通量和产率方面具有显著的高容量和高效率。在本研究中，达到了 20 mg/min/g 催化剂的最大石墨烯产率和 6 g/g 催化剂的石墨烯产量；与迄今为止报道的 500 mg 催化剂中 50 mg 的最佳石墨烯产率相比，这一产量提高了 60 倍。
