Two-Minute Assembly of Pristine Large-Area Graphene Based Films

Abstract

We report a remarkably rapid method for assembling pristine graphene platelets into a large area transparent film at a liquid surface. Some 2-3 layer pristine graphene platelets temporally solvated with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) are assembled at the surface of a dilute aqueous suspension using an evaporation-driven Rayleigh-Taylor instability and then are driven together by Marangoni forces. The platelets are fixed through physical binding of their edges. Typically, 8-cm-diameter circular graphene films are generated within two minutes. Once formed, the films can be transferred onto various substrates with flat or textured topologies. This interfacial assembly protocol is generally applicable to other nanomaterials, including OD fullerene and 1D carbon nanotubes, which commonly suffer from limited solution compatibility.