Morphology and structure of mono- and few-layer graphene produced by jet cavitation

We prepared mono- and few-layer graphene with micrometer-sized dimensions in aqueous solution by a jet cavitation method starting from common crystal graphite, which is totally green, facile, low-cost, and laborsaving. The graphene yield by our method is estimated as similar to 4 wt. % by statistical analysis. Diverse microscopy is used to characterize the morphology, microstructure, and near-edge fine structure of the prepared nanosheets. It is found that partial folding allows realization of rotational stacking fault in otherwise perfect samples. The folded graphene with Mode patterns could be ideal specimens for experimentally probing band structure and electronic properties of graphene with different stacking styles. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3641863]