Laser‐Induced Freestanding Graphene Papers: A New Route of Scalable Fabrication with Tunable Morphologies and Properties for Multifunctional Devices and Structures

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Germany), 2018-09, Vol.14 (36), p.e1802350-n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Yanan, Wang, Yong, Zhang, Peipei, Liu, Fu, Luo, Sida
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automation; Chemical properties; Commercialization; Deicing; Flame retardants; Flexible components; flexible electronics; Graphene; graphene papers; Human motion; Lasers; laser‐induced graphene; Manufacturing engineering; Morphology; multifunctional sensors; Nanotechnology; Organic chemistry; Separators; smart composites; Smart structures
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.201802350

The recently emergent laser‐induced graphene (LIG) technology has endowed the fabrication of smart devices with one‐step processing and scalable/designable features. Graphene paper (GP), an important architecture of 2D layered carbon, however, is never produced through LIG. Herein, a novel strategy is reported for production of freestanding GP through LIG technology. It is first determined that the unique spatial configuration of polyimide (PI) paper is critical for the preparation of GP without the appearance of intense shape distortion. Benefiting from the mechanism, the as‐produced laser‐induced graphene paper (LIGP) is foldable, trimmable, and integratable to customized shapes and structures with the largest dimension of 40 × 35 cm2. Based on the processing–structure–property relationship study, one is capable of controlling and tuning various physical and chemical properties of LIGPs, rendering them unique for assembling flexible electronics and smart structures, e.g., human/robotic motion detectors, liquid sensors, water–oil separators, antibacterial media, and flame retardant/deicing/self‐sensing composites. With the key findings, the escalation of LIGP for commercialization, roll‐to‐roll manufacturing, and multidisciplinary applications are highly expected. Freestanding graphene papers are prepared by the novel strategy of direct laser writing assisted by critical spatial configuration of polyimide papers. The fabricated graphene papers exhibit scalable size, customizable shapes, tunable structures and properties for enabling multifunctional flexible devices and smart structures, ranging from motion capturing sensors, water/oil separation, and antibacterium membranes to fire/ice‐shielding and self‐diagnosing composites.