Foams of graphene, method of making and materials made thereof
Method for making a liquid foam from graphene. The method includes preparing an aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide and adding a water miscible compound to the aqueous dispersion to produce a mixture including a modified form of graphene oxide. A second immiscible fluid (a gas or a liquid) with or without a surfactant are added to the mixture and agitated to form a fluid/water composite wherein the modified form of graphene oxide aggregates at the interfaces between the fluid and water to form either a closed or open cell foam. The modified form of graphene oxide is the foaming agent.
1. A method for making a liquid foam from graphene comprising:
preparing an aqueous dispersion of grapheme oxide;
adding a water miscible compound to the aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide to produce a mixture including a modified form of graphene oxide;
adding water to the mixture; and
adding a gas to the mixture to produce a foamed phase including a modified form of graphene oxide.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the gas is air.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the adding a gas step comprises agitating the mixture.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the water miscible compound is a base.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the base is a diamine.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the diamine is isophorone diamine.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the modified form of grapheme oxide is a reduced form of graphene oxide.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the modified form of graphene oxide is a chemically functionalized form of graphene oxide.
9. The method of claim 1 further including manipulating the liquid foam.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the manipulation step comprises skimming the liquid foam off the liquid surface.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the manipulation step comprises a gravitational separation process.
12. The method of claim 1 further including mixing the liquid foam containing a modified form of grapheme oxide with other components to form a composite material.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein one of the other components is a matrix forming component in the composite material.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the matrix forming component is a polymer or polymer solution or a pre-polymer compound.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the pro-polymer compound is a component of an epoxy system.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein the matrix foaming component is a sol-gel ceramic precursor.
17. The method of claim 1 further including using the liquid foam to produce a porous material or open-cell foam made with a modified form of graphene oxide.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the modified form of grapheme oxide is a reduced form of graphene oxide.
19. The method of claim 17 wherein the modified form of graphene oxide is a chemically functionalized form of graphene oxide.
20. The method of claim 1 further including drying the liquid foam to form a solid foam.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein the solid foam has a closed-cell cellular structure.
22. The method of claim 20 wherein the gas cells in the solid foam are encapsulated inside graphene shells made of a modified form of graphene oxide.