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Materials

Hollow Graphene Spheres

Layer-by-layer deposition over a polystyrene bead template leads to a new type of graphene structure

by Mitch Jacoby
November 29, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 48

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Credit: J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
Charged graphene sheets deposited on a polymer sphere lead to a hollow structure once the template is dissolved.
Credit: J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
Charged graphene sheets deposited on a polymer sphere lead to a hollow structure once the template is dissolved.

Broadening the range of structures that can be prepared from graphene, researchers in South Korea have developed a layer-by-layer deposition method for forming hollow graphene spheres (J. Phys. Chem. Lett., DOI: 10.1021/jz101441a). The demonstration suggests alternative ways to prepare graphene structures and may lead to applications in areas such as drug delivery and catalysis. Byeong-Su Kim of Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology and Kookheon Char and Jinkee Hong of Seoul National University exploited electrostatic interactions between positively and negatively charged graphene oxide sheets, functionalized with amine and carboxylate groups, respectively, to coat 2-μm-diameter polystyrene spheres. The team reduced the graphene shells using hydrazine and then dissolved the polymer templates using tetrahydrofuran. Following microscopy analysis, the researchers determined that they controllably prepared hollow structures with shells ranging from two to five layers in thickness. They also prepared hollow spheres in which gold nanoparticles were embedded in the shells.

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