There are provided a transparent conductive film, as well as a heater, a touch panel, a solar battery, an organic EL device, a liquid crystal device, and an electronic paper that are provided with the transparent conductive film, the transparent conductive film being capable of easing a decline in optical transmittance when graphene is laminated, and of achieving optical transmittance higher than an upper limit of optical transmittance of a single layer of graphene. The transparent conductive film includes a single-layered conductive graphene sheet. The single-layered conductive graphene sheet includes a first region and a second region, the first region being configured of graphene, and the second region being surrounded by the first region and having optical transmittance that is higher than optical transmittance of the first region.

A method of manufacturing a graphene sheet comprising the steps of: providing a container containing liquid and a volume above the liquid; supplying carbon atoms to the volume; and allowing carbon atoms to settle on the surface of the liquid and to coalesce to form the graphene sheet.

A method of producing isolated graphene sheets from a layered graphite, comprising: (a) forming an alkali metal ion-intercalated graphite compound by an electrochemical intercalation which uses a liquid solution of an alkali metal salt dissolved in an organic solvent as both an electrolyte and an intercalate source, layered graphite material as an anode material, and a metal or graphite as a cathode material, and wherein a current is imposed upon a cathode and an anode at a current density for a duration of time sufficient for effecting the electrochemical intercalation of alkali metal ions into interlayer spacing; and (b) exfoliating and separating hexagonal carbon atomic interlayers (graphene planes) from the alkali metal ion-intercalated graphite compound using ultrasonication, thermal shock exposure, exposure to water solution, mechanical shearing treatment, or a combination thereof to produce isolated graphene sheets.

Amorphous two-dimensional graphene-like carbon films provide benefits to a variety of applications due to advantageous electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties. Methods are provided to efficiently and cheaply create high-quality amorphous two-dimensional carbon films with embedded graphene-like nanocrystallites using coal as a precursor. These methods employ solution-phase deposition of coal-derived graphene-containing quantum dots followed by relatively low-temperature annealing/crosslinking of the quantum dots to form a single two-dimensional layer of carbon that includes a plurality of randomly-oriented discrete graphene domains connected to each other via amorphous carbon regions. Multi-layer films can be easily created by repeating the deposition and annealing processes. Two-dimensional carbon films formed in this manner exhibit improved properties when compared to crystalline graphene sheets and have properties especially suited to use as the storage medium of memristors. Further processing can result in large free-standing two-dimensional graphene-like carbon thin films that can be used as membranes or for other applications.

The present embodiments relate to a method for manufacturing a two-dimensional material using a top-down method, the method includes the steps of preparing a bulk crystal, forming a metal layer on the bulk crystal, and then attaching a thermal release tape on the metal layer, exfoliating a two-dimensional material to which the metal layer and the thermal release tape have been attached from the bulk crystal, transferring the two-dimensional material to which the metal layer and the thermal release tape have been attached onto a substrate, and removing the thermal release tape and the metal layer from the substrate onto which the two-dimensional material has been transferred.

A system and method for producing graphene includes a heating block, substrate, motor and collection device. The substrate is arranged about the heating block and is configured to receive heat from the heating block. A motor is connected to the substrate to rotate the substrate about the heating block. A cathode and anode are configured to direct a flux stream for deposit onto the rotating substrate. A collection device removes the deposited material from the rotating substrate. A heating element is embedded in the heating block and imparts heat to the heating block. The heating block is made of cement or other material that uniformly disperses the heat from the heating element throughout the heating block. The flux stream can be a carbon vapor, with the deposited flux being graphene.

A graphene-reinforced polymer matrix composite comprising an essentially uniform distribution in a thermoplastic polymer of about 10% to about 50% of total composite weight of particles selected from graphite microp articles, single-layer graphene nanoparticles, multilayer graphene nanoparticles, and combinations thereof, where at least 50 wt % of the particles consist of single- and/or multi-layer graphene nanoparticles less than 50 nanometers thick along a c-axis direction. The graphene-reinforced polymer matrix is prepared by a method comprising (a) distributing graphite microparticles into a molten thermoplastic polymer phase comprising one or more matrix polymers; and (b) applying a succession of shear strain events to the molten polymer phase so that the matrix polymers exfoliate the graphite successively with each event until at least 50% of the graphite is exfoliated to form a distribution in the molten polymer phase of single- and multi-layer graphene nanoparticles less than 50 nanometers thick along a c-axis direction.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to carbon-containing composites which are suitable for use as electrodes in electrochemical systems. The composites are formed from a scaffold of graphene and carbon nanotubes. Graphene flakes form a plurality of generally planar sheets (e.g., extending in an x-y plane) separated in the direction of a composite axis (e.g., along a z-axis) and approximately parallel to one another. The carbon nanotubes extend between the graphene sheets and at least a portion of the carbon nanotubes are aligned in approximately the same direction, at a defined angle with respect to the composite axis. At least a portion of the scaffold is embedded within a porous carbon matrix (e.g., an activated carbon, a polymer derived graphitic carbon, etc.).

The present invention relates to a process for exfoliating graphite in carbonaceous materials facilitated by a Diels-Alder reaction, and the applications of same, in particular for producing electronic or microelectronic components such as transparent conductive electrodes. The inventive method comprises a Diels-Alder reaction between a material containing graphite and an anthrone compound represented by formula (I), wherein X, R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are as defined in the description, in an organic solvent, in the presence of a base, and subjected to sonication, ball-milling and/or high-shear mixing, at a temperature of between 15° C. and 65° C., to obtain the corresponding graphene Diels-Alder adduct.

A method of producing graphene sheets directly from graphite mineral (graphite rock) powder, comprising: (a) forming an intercalated graphite compound by an electrochemical intercalation procedure conducted in an intercalation reactor, containing (i) a liquid solution electrolyte comprising an intercalating agent and a graphene plane-wetting agent dissolved therein; (ii) a working electrode that contains the graphite material powder as an active material; and (iii) a counter-electrode, and wherein a current is imposed upon the working electrode and counter electrode at a current density sufficient for effecting electrochemical intercalation of the intercalating agent and/or wetting agent into interlayer spacing, wherein the wetting agent is selected from melamine, ammonium sulfate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, Na(ethylenediamine), tetraalkylammonium salts, ammonia, carbamide, hexamethylenetetramine, organic amine, poly(sodium-4-styrene sulfonate), or a combination thereof; and (b) exfoliating and separating the intercalated graphite compound using ultrasonication, thermal shock exposure, and/or a mechanical shearing treatment to produce graphene sheets.