Microfluidics-enabled orientation and microstructure control of macroscopic graphene fibres

• Published in: Nature nanotechnology Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 168 - 175
• Main Authors: Xin, Guoqing, Zhu, Weiguang, Deng, Yanxiang, Cheng, Jie, Zhang, Lucy T., Chung, Aram J., De, Suvranu, Lian, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.02.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 140/133; 639/301/1023/303; 639/925/918; Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrical properties; Elongation; Fibers; Flow pattern; Fluidics; Graphene; Materials Science; Mathematical morphology; Mechanical properties; Microchannels; Microfluidics; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Rods; Shear stress; Shear thinning (liquids); Sheets; Stress concentration; Tubes
• ISSN: 1748-3387; 1748-3395
• DOI: 10.1038/s41565-018-0330-9

Macroscopic graphene structures such as graphene papers and fibres can be manufactured from individual two-dimensional graphene oxide sheets by a fluidics-enabled assembling process. However, achieving high thermal-mechanical and electrical properties is still challenging due to non-optimized microstructures and morphology. Here, we report graphene structures with tunable graphene sheet alignment and orientation, obtained via microfluidic design, enabling strong size and geometry confinements and control over flow patterns. Thin flat channels can be used to fabricate macroscopic graphene structures with perfectly stacked sheets that exhibit superior thermal and electrical conductivities and improved mechanical strength. We attribute the observed shape and size confinements to the flat distribution of shear stress from the anisotropic microchannel walls and the enhanced shear thinning degree of large graphene oxide sheets in solution. Elongational and step expansion flows are created to produce large-scale graphene tubes and rods with horizontally and perpendicularly aligned graphene sheets by tuning the elongational and extensional shear rates, respectively. Sheet alignment and orientation order of graphene structures induced by microfluidics design enable the optimization of electronic and mechanical properties of macroscopic graphene fibres.