Unexpected Room Temperature Ferromagnetism of a Ball-Milled Graphene Oxide-Melamine Mixture

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterial (NDCNM) was synthesized by grinding a mixture of graphene oxide and melamine in a planetary mill with both balls and milling chamber of zirconium dioxide. In the electron spin resonance spectrum of NDCNM, a broad signal with g = 2.08 was observed in addition to a narrow signal at g = 2.0034. In the study using a vibrating-sample magnetometer, the synthesized material is presumably a ferromagnet with a coercive force of 100 Oe. The specific magnetization at 10,000 Oe is approximately 0.020 and 0.055 emu/g at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature, respectively.