Preparation of Graphene Nanopores by Heavy Ion Irradiation
Graphene is a typical two-dimensional nanomaterial consisting of single-layer carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice. Perfect monolayer graphene is impermeable to any molecule and so far it is the thinnest and separable biphasic separator material. Graphene with nanopores show excellent selectivity for solution ions and gas molecules, and have broad application prospects in the fields of seawater desalination, sewage treatment, air purification, etc. At present, various graphene nanopores have been developed in the world However, how to quickly prepare high-density nanopores on large-area graphene samples has not been effectively solved.According to the research on polymer nanopores, CAS researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics Materials invented a method for rapid preparation of high-density nanopores. The new method of pore-supported large-area porous graphene solves the bottleneck problem in the current porous graphene research.
Researchers transferred a large area of graphene to a PET film to form a G / PET composite structure (Figure A), and then irradiated the G / PET composite structure with high energy heavy ions from a Lanzhou heavy ion accelerator to form a graphene nanopore (Figure B) was formed in PET. Conical holes were then formed in PET using asymmetric etching to form graphene nanopores with microporous support (Figure C). This method gave full play to Lanzhou heavy ions Accelerator ion energy is high, penetrating ability is strong, can be easily and quickly prepared with a microporous support large area, porous density controllable porous graphene, and access to patents for inventions.
Researchers use this method to prepare a single graphene nanopore, and accurately study the transport properties of the ions in the nanopore. The graphene nanopore has not only good ion selectivity but also great ion rectification effect, The results are of great significance in the development of micro-nano flow control devices and in the preparation of graphene nanofiltration membranes. The research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Relevant research results were published on ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
