Selection and Characterization of Commercial Precursors, GIC-based, for Industrial Production of Bulk Graphene Nanoplatelets

The morphology and the chemical characteristics of graphene nanoplatelets are important parameters to define the potential of these particles in various applications. In this paper we firstly conducted a market analysis to identify commercial CIG (Graphite Intercalation Compounds) with different characteristics, our selection was based on physical-chemical criteria (such as purity, mesh, expansion degree) and commercial (cost, availability, etc). The materials were prior expanded and exfoliated on a laboratory scale, then on an industrial pilot plant, to study the final characteristics of the graphene nanoplatelets and the relations of them to the starting materials. Selected materials and products, derived from the exfoliation process, have been well characterize; SEM, OM, XRD, PSA, BET for the morphological characteristics and TGA, FT-IR, XRF, EDS for chemical ones. We have obtained particles with different chemical-physical characteristics, potentially suitable for applications that request to improve electrical and thermal conductibility and/or mechanical reinforcement and/or barrier effect