Pristine Graphene Microspheres by the Spreading and Trapping of Graphene at an Interface

The interfacial spreading and exfoliation of graphene was used to create low-density, hollow microspheres defined by a thin shell of graphene. The spheres were templated by a thermodynamically driven self-assembly process in which graphite spontaneously exfoliated and spread at the high-energy interfaces of a water-in-oil emulsion. Graphene thus acted as a 2D surfactant to stabilize the dispersed water droplets utilized as polymerization templates. Using a mixture of organic solvent and monomer as the emulsion oil phase, polystyrene-coated hollow graphene microspheres were created. These spheres were characterized by optical and electron microscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis, nanoindentation, and particle sizing. The mechanism leading to the microsphere surface morphology and shape is discussed, with the oil phase composition shown to play a critical role.