| 1. |
- Majee, Subimal, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Highly Conductive Films by Rapid Photonic Annealing of Inkjet Printable Starch–Graphene Ink
- 2021
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Ingår i: Advanced Materials Interfaces. - : John Wiley and Sons Inc. - 2196-7350. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A general formulation engineering method is adopted in this study to produce a highly concentrated (≈3 mg mL−1) inkjet printable starch–graphene ink in aqueous media. Photonic annealing of the starch–graphene ink is validated for rapid post-processing of printed films. The experimental results demonstrate the role of starch as dispersing agent for graphene in water and photonic pulse energy in enhancing the electrical properties of the printed graphene patterns, thus leading to an electrical conductivity of ≈2.4 × 104 S m−1. The curing mechanism is discussed based on systematic material studies. The eco-friendly and cost-efficient approach presented in this work is of technical potential for the scalable production and integration of conductive graphene inks for widespread applications in printed and flexible electronics.
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| 2. |
- Zhao, Wei
(författare)
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Aqueous graphene dispersions for paper packaging
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Graphene is widely touted as the thinnest and the most versatile material available. As an atomically thin layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal configuration, graphene has a combination of technologically important properties, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and impermeability to gases. From an industrial perspective on applications, water as a dispersing media for graphene offers safer handling and environmental benefits compared with conventional organic solvents. However, the high surface tension of water and the attractive forces between graphene surfaces drive the sheets to aggregation. Although surfactants have been an important stepping stone in the advancement of aqueous graphene dispersions, these surface-active molecules are often needed in excess and have adverse effects on coatings during film formation. These challenges limit the industrial relevance of graphene as an effective barrier in composites. In general, gas barriers against both oxygen and water vapour, made from a single coating formulation, is seemingly a holy grail for the packaging industry. In this thesis work, the aim was to gain a fundamental understanding of aqueous graphene dispersions for gas barriers used in paper packaging. Biobased materials were systematically investigated as dispersing agents for graphene based on dispersing conditions and functional barrier performance. Flavin mononucleotide (FMN), a food additive, dispersed graphene using a relatively low amount of FMN and showed intriguing spectroscopic signatures of π-π interactions with graphene. Starch nanoparticles (SNPs) realised concentrated and stable aqueous graphene dispersions for composite films. The SNP-stabilized graphene sheets in starch films lowered the gas permeability of both oxygen and water vapour simultaneously by over 70% under all the conditions tested. In general, a combined gas barrier performance is unusual for both bioplastics and common petrochemical-based plastics used in the packaging industry. Motivated by the graphene network leading to the extraordinary barrier performance, the aqueous SNP-graphene dispersion was modified for inkjet printing. The printed patterns were flexible and electrically conductive in the order of 104 S m-1 that is on par with the highest reported values in the literature. These surfactant-free aqueous SNP-graphene dispersions have the potential and versatility for paper-based gas barriers with integrated electronics. Multifunctional composite films made from these dispersions, when optimized, could become competitive with commercial plastics, and meet the current and future demands of the packaging industry.
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| 3. |
- Zhao, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Surfactant-Free Stabilization of Aqueous Graphene Dispersions Using Starch as a Dispersing Agent
- 2021
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Ingår i: ACS Omega. - : American Chemical Society. - 2470-1343. ; 6:18, s. 12050-12062
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Attention to graphene dispersions in water with the aid of natural polymers is increasing with improved awareness of sustainability. However, the function of biopolymers that can act as dispersing agents in graphene dispersions is not well understood. In particular, the use of starch to disperse pristine graphene materials deserves further investigation. Here, we report the processing conditions of aqueous graphene dispersions using unmodified starch. We have found that the graphene content of the starch-graphene dispersion is dependent on the starch fraction. The starch-graphene sheets are few-layer graphene with a lateral size of 3.2 μm. Furthermore, topographical images of these starch-graphene sheets confirm the adsorption of starch nanoparticles with a height around 5 nm on the graphene surface. The adsorbed starch nanoparticles are ascribed to extend the storage time of the starch-graphene dispersion up to 1 month compared to spontaneous aggregation in a nonstabilized graphene dispersion without starch. Moreover, the ability to retain water by starch is reduced in the presence of graphene, likely due to environmental changes in the hydroxyl groups responsible for starch-water interactions. These findings demonstrate that starch can disperse graphene with a low oxygen content in water. The aqueous starch-graphene dispersion provides tremendous opportunities for environmental-friendly packaging applications. © 2021 American Chemical Society.
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| 4. |
- Zhao, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Surfactant-free starch-graphene composite films as simultaneous oxygen and water vapour barriers
- 2022
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Ingår i: npj 2D Materials and Applications. - : Nature Research. - 2397-7132. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A single coating formulation for multifunctional composites, such as a gas barrier against both oxygen and water vapour, is the holy grail for the packaging industry. Since the last decade, graphene has been touted as the ideal barrier material in composites due to its morphology and impermeability to all gases. However, this prospect is limited by either poor dispersion of graphene or excess surfactants to aid the dispersion, both leading to shortcuts that allow gas permeation through the composite. Here, we demonstrate a combined gas barrier with starch-graphene composite films made from a single formulation of surfactant-free starch nanoparticle-stabilized graphene dispersion (2.97 mg mL−1). Hence, the incorporated graphene reduces the permeability of both the oxygen and the water vapour by over 70% under all the relative humidity conditions tested. Moreover, these films are foldable and electrically conductive (9.5 S m−1). Our surfactant-free approach of incorporating graphene into an industrially important biopolymer is highly relevant to the packaging industry, thus offering cost-effective and water-based solution depositions of multifunctional composite films for wide-ranging applications, such as gas barriers in food packaging. © 2022, The Author(s).
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