High-power splitting of expanded graphite to produce few-layer graphene sheets

Few-layer graphene sheets were prepared by splitting expanded graphite using high-power sonication. Atomic-level calibrated scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to obtain efficient layer statistics, enabling optimization of the experimental conditions. This resulted in a two-step splitting mechanism in which the mean number of layers was first reduced to less than 20 by heating to 1100 degrees C and then to a few-layer region by a 5-min 10(4) W L(-1) - power-density sonication. Raman spectroscopic analysis confirms the above mechanism and demonstrates that the sheets are largely free of defects and functional groups. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.