Three-dimensional porous graphene sponges assembled with the combination of surfactant and freeze-drying

Abstract

With the combination of surfactant and freeze-drying, we have developed two kinds of graphene spongy structures. On the one hand, using foams of soap bubbles as templates, three-dimensional porous graphene sponges with rich hierarchical pores have been synthesized. Pores of the material contain three levels of length scales, including millimeter, micrometer and nanometer. The structure can be tuned by changing the freezing media, adjusting the stirring rate or adding functional additives. On the other hand, by direct freeze-drying of a graphene oxide/surfactant suspension, a porous framework with directionally aligned pores is prepared. The surfactant gives a better dispersion of graphene oxide sheets, resulting in a high specific surface area. Both of the obtained materials exhibit excellent absorption capacity and good compression performance, providing a broad range of possible applications, such as absorbents, storage media, and carriers.