Blowing Route to Fabricate Foams of 2D Materials

Graphene, as a representative of two-dimensional (2D) materials, has excellent intrinsic properties such as high specific surface area and conductivity, but its macroscopic bulk behaves poorly owing to severe face-to-face re-stacking and hand-in-hand contact resistance. Three-dimensional (3D) design of 2D materials can deliver the excellent nanoscaled properties to the macroscopic world, to realize the high surface area, conductivity, interconnected pores, and good mechanics of the bulks. It is necessary and highlighted to develop the porous monolith of 2D materials for applications as electrodes, adsorbents, elastomers, etc. The blowing route has the advantages of low cost and simple processing, which has been accentually developed to produce the foams of 2D materials for several years. This article introduces the principle of the blowing method, summarizing the recent examples of blown foams of graphene, boron nitride nanosheet, and others. The scientific front about foams of 2D materials is discussed, and the broad applications of the new materials are prospected in energy, environment, etc.