Very glad I watched all the way through. Lol It is truly remarkable how simple the idea and process of graphene synthesis actually can be. Thank you very much for posting these videos!
In my ink lab I used an ultrasonic washer vs a sonicator. Has 3L tub and works at 40Khz but only costs $100-$200 USD. Just a suggestion for those of us poor experimentors lol. Keep up the great work!
Please tell me how did you used it? Did you put graphene powder into water and made to work it with sonicator? Or without water, just a powder? how long time?
I was thinking about water ethanol solutions, this looks good too. And some temperature effect to be studied. Your videos are amazing and informative. I hope many more like you share freely on graphene, instead of running after patents. Thanks a lot!
Robert have you looked at what you have made under an electron microscope? Can you be sure you are not simply making a graphite colloidal suspension? Though you are breaking the graphite up can you be sure you are taking it down to a mono layer which is then on drying able to form covalent bonds and a single graphene layer sheet?
Seems no matter what I find myself looking to learn on the net, well that I'm interested in you have talked about it lol. Thank you for all the time you have put into your videos.
Thanks Robert, About the time I get ready to try one of experiments you come out with a new and better way of doing the same thing. It is hard to keep up with you. Please keep going!
Brilliant use of water and acetone :) Cheers mate for the tip! I agree, cleaning the soap out of the graphene *is* challenging, to say the least! Acetone evaporates nicely as well, leaving no residue behind. Treating graphene with soap at two-hundred some odd degrees Celsius under a vacuum was one way to do it, though time consuming. I would be interested in the paper's title for the paper regarding sonication with the diverse solvents. Again, thanks for the tip.
I shared this video of yours on a science video from Disney News about new ways to make graphene. They listed almost archaic methods as revolutionary, so I posted your video to show them that there are smart people like you out there doing these incredible things.
Robert, I look around in that room you're in and see all that expensive equipment and stuff, and to be honest it doesn't exactly look like you're penniless from watching your other videos either. Where I come from a decent HD camera now really cost just a few pounds, how come it's so darn expensive where you are that you cannot afford one? It's ashame really. I love your experiments, I really appreciate the time you spend on doing it and the fact that you're sharing it with us, I just wish you could add a few pixels to your videos so I can actually see what you're doing in greater details.
Looks like a least someone (you) hasn’t given up on the mast production of graphene. I’ve always believed graphene more than any other material has the potential to change the world for everyone. Keep up the fight your doing a great job..
Hello again Robert! I'm working away on this recipe. I will list the parameters and results of my first experiment below, along with a question for efficiency. January 15, 2016 800 max rpm 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 450ml Acetone 150ml Deionized Water 25g Graphite - 5 micron Result: *500 ml of graphene suspended in solution, 100 ml layer of graphite settled to bottom. Possibly not enough co-solvent for graphite to exfoliate into? Possibly not long enough stir time?* January 19, 2016 (using same batch as above) Added 150ml Acetone - 600ml total Added 50ml DI Water - 200ml total 800 rpm max 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. *There is still a layer of about 100ml of graphite settled on the bottom* Here is my question: Is it possible to exfoliate ALL of the graphite into graphene using this method? Why is there still a bit of graphite that settles to the bottom? I have a process ready to use to boil off the acetone - water co-solvent, then re-capture it for re-use (distillation basically), then I could claim my graphene in the bottom of the boil pot and have the skeleton for a streamlined, effiecient process that is VERY cost effective. However, in order for this to work as streamlined and efficiently as I would like, and yield only graphene without risk of pouring off some graphite into the boil pot, I need ALL of the graphite to exfoliate into graphene. Is this possible? Thanks again for all the videos and help. Such an amazing material, and I'm very excited to experiment with it in the near future.
+David Larson it's not possible to exfoliate all in one pass mate - drain off the exfoliated stuff - add more solvent and re exfoliate the remainder - you should see it reduce in volume as it is exfoliated into the solvents
+Robert Murray-Smith Hmm okay. As the stubborn Northerner I am, I will experiment on the side to see if there is a way to change that, but for now I will just drain off the top and go from there! Thanks again!
Hi Robert, I wish I knew our to add value like you do. My wife thinks I must be crazy. Having barely passed A levels I know more about graphene than my old science teacher. Just wanted to say thanks dude!
I was thinking that a less expensive version of your high performance blender might be made using a palm router. They turn at very high speeds, typically variable up to 30,000 RPM, have reasonably good power, and are relatively inexpensive. They would probably tolerate longer run times then your typical kitchen blender as well. Of course if your turning something this fast it will need to be pretty well balanced. Did I understand you correctly to say that the starting material is graphite?
Aha... A way around using soap and having to use a defoaming agent! I knew you'd do it! I'm trying to understand what's going on in the video but I must admit that I got a little confused at times. I'm assuming that the graphite didn't dissolve entirely into the acetone/water mix which is why you're mentioning sedimentation. Would, perhaps pouring it through a coffee filter expedite removal of larger pieces or might it add extra contaminants from the filter? I'd love to see you using equipment that's available in the average house.
In Flexographic printing they have a water based ink that use an amines to keep insolvents in solution until printed and a small fan removes the vapor and pigments are precipitated. This may also suspend graphite for your projects.
Hey Robert! it's been about a year and a half since you posted this video. I finally found a lab homogenizer that I could afford. its being shipped as I write this. I have been waiting to try this graphene recipe and I am so excited. I'm sorry to see that your Forward Working Group page no longer has graphene for sale. when I get set up in a few weeks I may be interested in supplying graphene. the prices I have seen on Ebay for graphene are expensive to ridiculous.
+thagrit let me know how you get on mate - i should warn you there are a lot of people getting into the graphene market and prices are already coming down current price is $1.50 per gram
+Robert Murray-Smith may I ask who is buying the graphine and what are they making with it ? Are there varying grades? what can and cant you do with the low grades ? (just being nosey, ionly have a laymans news report understanding (ie close to naff all).
+JusticeNature capacitors, plastic, touch screens - there are varying grades and diffent ones work well in one situation but badly in another - low grades are good for batteries
Robert! Is there a way for us to use a normal homogenizer that can go up to 13 k rpm, or do we have to ultrasonic homogenize it? All the papers point to success with Ball milling and ultrasonic homoginizers. Im trying to do this cheap and high quality
It’s important to make high-quality graphene, but it’s also important to use materials that would normally go to waste, or from sources that are renewable
Very interesting and informative. Going back 45 yrs to Uni days, we evaluated blenders by blending dry wood shavings and sawdust. A good blender reduced the wood to wood flour, the finer the flour the better the blender. I seem to recall that some Consumer review magazines (CHOICE here in Oz) also used this test in the past. But dodgy recollection may be misleading me,
Thanks to your videos i have successfully made graphene suspended in a solvent! The only issue i have is trying to extrude the graphine from the solvent in a powder form. I have a centrifuge however ive read that a centrifuge would just re-cluster the graphene into graphite. I was just curious on your take on using a centrifuge.
Thank yoThank you for your content. I am clearly new to chemistry and I am taking small steps with ”safety first”. Please indicate the simplest method of converting graphite 300 mesh into single or double layer graphene. Some chemicals and tools such as a kiln are simply not available in this small isolated country. Please indicate if the Potassium Permanganate can be substituted. I believe sodium hydroxide and potassium nitrate are both available. I was considering the electrical separation method but purchasing a welder is not my first choice. The total amount of graphite that needs to be converted is about 10-15 lbs. Any suggestions are welcome.
So I will be able to make pure synthetic graphene? Can you show me (and other people incapable of purchasing high end equipment) the final product? Thanks. Great video by the way.
But seriously I've learned more from you than any courses I've taken and have now made some low grade graphene with a graphite pencil dissolved in 1:1 ratio of acetone to water , I water 24 hours and have now little black particles which I believe to be graphene
I worked on finger print spray years ago.... use fast evaporation alcohol like stx. mix power and alcohol and spray onto surface to atomize. once surface is coated... find a way to flash it to become what u need (laser,flash, lightening)... warning!!! must wear respirator and flash point is very low.
Yay I made it to the end :D. I bet that Homogenizer makes great milkshakes :D Time to give the Breville a tubojet engine... Could use the exhaust to froth Cappuccinos XD.
very nice! what is your method to check the graphene quality you obtain? measure conductivity and heat transmission? or compare its dispersion in water vs the initial graphite product?
Robert Murray-Smith I think I found the paper you mentioned. M Yi et al.,"Achieving concentrated graphene dispersions in water/acetone mixtures by the strategy of tailoring Hansen solubility parameters", J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 (2013) 025301 dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/2/025301
Hello, Can you use any size graphite particles as a starting material with this method? or should one use the fairly large 35 mesh you have in this informative video? Thanks for sharing! Robert.
This is fantastic Rob, so if I understand what your saying you don't use soap anymore, you use just water and acetone? Also, I forgot which binder do you use to further process this into a paint?
Once the solution is evaporated off and im left with a mobius spaghetti of graphene, could I reconstitute it with a 3d printer resin with the homogenizer?
Thank you for your videos. Can this soapy graphene be adequate for making better concrete, better compressive strength, better young modulus,etc? Thanks.
There's something that's needed its very new and no great way to make it in quantities.. Its hematene it's rust or iron oxide but only 2 dimensional like graphene the two make a new type of battery that runs on the molecular vibration of water huge new advance .thanks jim
+Robert Murray-Smith Very interesting; Best yet! As a centrifuge, could you not use an old upright spin drier? For larger quantities! Most people reading this, I don't mean your auto washing machine. The old upright spin dryer. You can pick em up for a few quid!
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) notes: "previously, descriptions such as graphite layers, carbon layers, or carbon sheets have been used for the term graphene...it is incorrect to use for a single layer a term which includes the term graphite, which would imply a three-dimensional structure. The term graphene should be used only when the reactions, structural relations or other properties of individual layers are discussed."
ok robert; youre videos have succesfully inflitrated my life where i can't stop thinking about it. I'm gonna go out and make this. do you have any advice about where to purchase the purest form of graphite?
So, a water and acetone mixture of 25 to 75 will convert graphite to graphene? Why does this not produce only a colloid of graphite? Is an oxidation reaction occurring?
As someone new to the Graphene production. You stated you used a homogenizer and a centrifuge? How can you turn the Graphene into a pure sheet instead of a powder?
+Robert Murray-Smith I plan too, I have the necessary equipment (fumecupboard etc). I have skimmed the literature and I haven't seen anybody try to reflux or hear the graphite...I'm sure there must be some obvious reason for this.
i got one question, this graphene ink can be used to reinforce fiberglass sheets (and then be epoxi coated), meaning that once cured, it would help to make it harder to break or not. Thanks, your videos are really informative.
Hello again Robert! I'm going to do some experimenting in the next few days - I finally got in my 200g of 5 micron sized graphite powder. It is nearly graphene to start with, wow its fine! Anyways, I was wondering how you test your raw graphene as far as having it checked by a lab or somewhere that can verify it is actually few - layer graphene? Thanks!
+Robert Murray-Smith I'll have to look for a similar lab here in the US. I was going to use the soap and water solution with mechanical exfoliation method, but I'm going to try an improved and simpler version of it with some slightly different ingredients, I'll let you know how it goes Thanks again, take care!
Hello, I was wondering if the graphene is deposited on the side of the container as it evaporates. If so can it be removed or would you need to insert something in the container that it can deposit on and be removed together? Anyway, great videos and definitely subscribing!
Have u looked at the graphite oxide method where they use a disc burner and graphite oxide suspended in water and then hit by the infrared laser on the disc burner to get graphene just as a sheat or have print circuits they even use the sheet to create a quick diy flexible super capacitor could u make a video sharing your thoughts on that method?
Hi Rob, I know you are interested in NiFe batteries, too. Do you know how the acetone in this solution will react with nickel hydroxide? I was thinking I might attempt to make a slightly moistened paste by adding it a drop at a time to my nickel hydroxide and pressing it into an electrode. The same might work with the iron oxide? Btw... love your videos. Thanks for the inspirations.
Kevin Blyth I was thinking along the same lines for DIY NiFe battery. The question, for me, is would the form of graphene be a good substitute for the Edison nickel snowflake? How is it best added to the hydrate? It appears to have been done at small scale, excuse the nanopun, by a Stanford team energy.stanford.edu/news/stanford-scientists-breathe-new-life-edison-battery, but my question is what is the likely mix production looking like? Any Ideas Rob?
Brennan Williams It quotes the the lead author of the study above as saying.... "In conventional electrodes, people randomly mix iron and nickel materials with conductive carbon," Wang explained. "Instead, we grew nanocrystals of iron oxide onto graphene, and nanocrystals of nickel hydroxide onto carbon nanotubes." Grew? Way beyond me, can anyone explain?
Brennan Williams I am sorry mate - but to fully explain that would take a semester of degree level chemistry - I can't do that but I can direct your reading - your best place to start is google scholar
Brennan Williams I have lots of ideas mate - but so do other people - your best place to start is google scholar - read around the subject to improve your understanding - review the videos on battery basics it will help you grasp the concepts
or in this case with a blender would there be benefit to ten minutes on and soak for 1 hour repeat repeat repeat? Cheap blenders have a low duty cycle and probably plastic bearings that deform when they get to hot if they have bearings at all😮
Hi, I'm stuck on something. If Graphene is a single, 2d layer of graphite carbon atoms, as I understand it, then how can there be 2,and3,4 etc. layer graphene? Wouldn't it still be graphite if it was multilayer graphene? I'm trying to catch up here, but I'm stuck.
*Bulk Graphene Production - The clean and easy way!* Funnily enough, CZcams suggests two skateboarding _"how tos"_ to me at the end of this. Hopefully more people will see this than those. Nice work Robert :-) BTW Rob: I haven't forgotten about the soap or your funding campaign, I've just been busy. You know how it is?
Robert I am physically disabled but about the only part of my body that still works is my brain I have a question for you please. What form of carbon will the soot from an acetylene torch make. Might that be graphene straight off the tip of the torch? I have used my torch and this soot to case harden tiny gun parts. I wonder if the carbon soot might have been graphene and I not know it.
Hey Robert, how do you generally know which chemical to add to your stuff to get the desired effect? Is it because you know the properties of the individual chemicals and how they behave, and therefore look for another chemical that will react *that* certain way that you want based on its properties? Or is it all just trial and error? You always seem to "just know" exactly which chemical to add to what, to achieve X effect. :/
lol - well there is a great deal of trial and error you don't see - otherwise the channel would be twenty times as long and most of it would be failure lol
dedlunch certainly - but so often you want to apply it onto something and if you do this you very often need to redisperse it - best is to decide what you want to do with it before you dry it as the drying step may well be a waste of time mate
Robert, do you have a book out on the collection of your dyi materials? graphene, conductive ink, etc. i thought i saw the title somewhere and cannot find it again...unless i made this up...? thanks for all these video's, cheers!
Hi Robert, after watching this video (all the way through lol:) I was wondering if the grapheen solution would be good for electrolysis like salt water or baking soda is? thanks as always, Chris Armstrong.
ok so we make a crayon slurpy with acetone and water... how we get the graphene out of solution and use it for something? paint spray mix? but then wouldn't the graphene become graphite again?
Been looking into getting some lab equipment to do little hobby experiments like this but man... even the cheaper equipment isn't cheap. Even something like a centrifuge is just under 100 pounds. Still, great video.
I am just wondering if I can soak a piece of towel or cloth in the freshly mixed graphine to create a conductive layer or if I have to wait and try to cetrafuge, however that's done? any help would be great, thanks
I wondered whilst watching this and you came to a point of looking for a coating to make freestanding Graphene.. and one thing came to mind was Silecon Hydrophobic solution, how might that react in acetone/water mixture?
A cheap angle grinder spins at 10,000rpm and will run for hours with a light load. Only thing is, you would have to make a framework to hold it (old bed-frame?) and some sort of extended shaft 'paddle'' Probably still less than £30.00 though? Only recently found your vids, they are fascinating and great to be public domain. I guess it keeps you 'safe' from the nefarious business interests so you don't disappear under strange circumstances?
Hi Robert, first of all thank you for your generous contributions to the human species as a whole, and not just corporate interests! I've been following your videos for a while and this method appears to be one of the best, because from what I understand if you have a high rpm mixer and a centrifuge you don't need a sonicator, is that correct? I'm asking that because where I live it's really hard to get a sonicator, but I would like to make experiments as well, so considering I can't get a sonicator here should I use this method? Also, Is there a way to do the Tour method without using sonication at the end of the cleaning step? Thank you very much.
Robert Murray-Smith I saw that video, but it's for cleaning graphete oxide only right? Is that cleaning also required in the acetone method you show here, or is a centrifuge enough?
Haha nice quality to have. But in terms of being educated to conduct research or have the knowledge to carry on tasks like these. Where did your curriculum come from. An engineering degree perhaps. Much appreciated
Though I am not set up to do i, I have wondered if you could get a coating of graphene on to a plate if you were to electrolize benezine? It is, after all, made up of only hydrogen and carbon, so there would be no other elements to contend with. Steps would have to be made to assure no oxygen were ever present, of course. I know it would be dangerous, but would it be possible ??
Thanks for the insight. I got a little frustrated trying to filter soapy graphene myself. I tried just using 99.9% isopropyl but the graphite doesn't exfoliate in that solution. Was thinking about doing an experiment with toluene, but that is kind of nasty stuff. Have you researched or had any experience with electrostatic deposition for graphene layering. I read short little paper on it and it was an interesting concept. Just curious on your thoughts about that as a viable option to get a near "single layer" graphene sheet(s).
arxiv.org/pdf/0808.1577.pdf?origin=publication_detail There you go, its using a gaseous medium for the deposition. Might be possible to use a electrolyte if one could charge the graphene particles and deposit them into a negatively charged dielectric that wont bond to the nano particulate graphite.
i do this to inform and making videos takes a lot of time - I am not a video production company just a guy sharing what i have done - i would rather spend my time doing experiments - the videos are good enough to pass the info. At first they were pretty rubbish but now they are about good enough and I am unlikely to spend more money on video equipment and I am unlikely to spend more time on video production.
Robert Murray-Smith I do my videos with a 2004 Canon S1 IS. It's elderly but it works. The key is it needs really good lighting. Several CFLS did the trick for me. I agree - keep using the camera you have. I know full well about how long it takes to make videos so I feel your pain.
hi Robert ,would it help to sonicate then let soak for awhile then sonicate and soak etc repeat repeat repeat ? or would sitting there soak not effect the vanderwalls at all?
Thank you Robert. I love coming back to your videos. Your teaching style is top notch.
Wow. You are like a rapid fire machine, but instead of bullets you shoot incredibly useful information. Awesome.
what a lame metaphor 🤣🤣🤣
It's so true about watching the whole video. I finally found someone who lectures on and on like I do. You are awesome.
+pmoneil lol - cheers mate
everytime i watch your videos, i get more interested on conducting my own experiment.
Very glad I watched all the way through. Lol It is truly remarkable how simple the idea and process of graphene synthesis actually can be. Thank you very much for posting these videos!
glad you liked it mate
In my ink lab I used an ultrasonic washer vs a sonicator. Has 3L tub and works at 40Khz but only costs $100-$200 USD. Just a suggestion for those of us poor experimentors lol. Keep up the great work!
nice suggestion mate - cheers
Please tell me how did you used it? Did you put graphene powder into water and made to work it with sonicator? Or without water, just a powder? how long time?
@@jtoomla you can suspend It with acetone in a bottle
@TEG POWERWALL send me your email to contact you
I was thinking about water ethanol solutions, this looks good too. And some temperature effect to be studied. Your videos are amazing and informative. I hope many more like you share freely on graphene, instead of running after patents. Thanks a lot!
Nikhilesh Iyer cheers mate and i like the work you are involved in
Robert have you looked at what you have made under an electron microscope? Can you be sure you are not simply making a graphite colloidal suspension? Though you are breaking the graphite up can you be sure you are taking it down to a mono layer which is then on drying able to form covalent bonds and a single graphene layer sheet?
Seems no matter what I find myself looking to learn on the net, well that I'm interested in you have talked about it lol. Thank you for all the time you have put into your videos.
Thanks Robert,
About the time I get ready to try one of experiments you come out with a new and better way of doing the same thing. It is hard to keep up with you. Please keep going!
Brilliant use of water and acetone :) Cheers mate for the tip! I agree, cleaning the soap out of the graphene *is* challenging, to say the least! Acetone evaporates nicely as well, leaving no residue behind. Treating graphene with soap at two-hundred some odd degrees Celsius under a vacuum was one way to do it, though time consuming. I would be interested in the paper's title for the paper regarding sonication with the diverse solvents. Again, thanks for the tip.
I shared this video of yours on a science video from Disney News about new ways to make graphene. They listed almost archaic methods as revolutionary, so I posted your video to show them that there are smart people like you out there doing these incredible things.
lol - cheers mate
Robert, I look around in that room you're in and see all that expensive equipment and stuff, and to be honest it doesn't exactly look like you're penniless from watching your other videos either. Where I come from a decent HD camera now really cost just a few pounds, how come it's so darn expensive where you are that you cannot afford one? It's ashame really. I love your experiments, I really appreciate the time you spend on doing it and the fact that you're sharing it with us, I just wish you could add a few pixels to your videos so I can actually see what you're doing in greater details.
And a sound system to improve the audio ..
maybe listen?
Looks like a least someone (you) hasn’t given up on the mast production of graphene. I’ve always believed graphene more than any other material has the potential to change the world for everyone. Keep up the fight your doing a great job..
Wow just the description gives me mad respect for you sir.
Hello again Robert! I'm working away on this recipe.
I will list the parameters and results of my first experiment below, along with a question for efficiency.
January 15, 2016
800 max rpm
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
450ml Acetone
150ml Deionized Water
25g Graphite - 5 micron
Result:
*500 ml of graphene suspended in solution, 100 ml layer of graphite settled to bottom. Possibly not enough co-solvent for graphite to exfoliate into? Possibly not long enough stir time?*
January 19, 2016 (using same batch as above)
Added 150ml Acetone - 600ml total
Added 50ml DI Water - 200ml total
800 rpm max
5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
*There is still a layer of about 100ml of graphite settled on the bottom*
Here is my question: Is it possible to exfoliate ALL of the graphite into graphene using this method? Why is there still a bit of graphite that settles to the bottom?
I have a process ready to use to boil off the acetone - water co-solvent, then re-capture it for re-use (distillation basically), then I could claim my graphene in the bottom of the boil pot and have the skeleton for a streamlined, effiecient process that is VERY cost effective.
However, in order for this to work as streamlined and efficiently as I would like, and yield only graphene without risk of pouring off some graphite into the boil pot, I need ALL of the graphite to exfoliate into graphene.
Is this possible?
Thanks again for all the videos and help. Such an amazing material, and I'm very excited to experiment with it in the near future.
+David Larson it's not possible to exfoliate all in one pass mate - drain off the exfoliated stuff - add more solvent and re exfoliate the remainder - you should see it reduce in volume as it is exfoliated into the solvents
+Robert Murray-Smith Hmm okay. As the stubborn Northerner I am, I will experiment on the side to see if there is a way to change that, but for now I will just drain off the top and go from there!
Thanks again!
+David Larson lol - we stubborn northerners get everywhere lol - good luck with it mate
Hi Robert, I wish I knew our to add value like you do. My wife thinks I must be crazy. Having barely passed A levels I know more about graphene than my old science teacher. Just wanted to say thanks dude!
cheers mate - glad it helped
I was thinking that a less expensive version of your high performance blender might be made using a palm router. They turn at very high speeds, typically variable up to 30,000 RPM, have reasonably good power, and are relatively inexpensive. They would probably tolerate longer run times then your typical kitchen blender as well. Of course if your turning something this fast it will need to be pretty well balanced.
Did I understand you correctly to say that the starting material is graphite?
yes you did and i like the idea of a palm router
That is a great idea...
Be careful with acetone fumes, they can explode with the electric sparks from the Palm router's motor.
@@erickclaussen It's too late m8, he's gone...
Aha... A way around using soap and having to use a defoaming agent! I knew you'd do it!
I'm trying to understand what's going on in the video but I must admit that I got a little confused at times.
I'm assuming that the graphite didn't dissolve entirely into the acetone/water mix which is why you're mentioning sedimentation. Would, perhaps pouring it through a coffee filter expedite removal of larger pieces or might it add extra contaminants from the filter?
I'd love to see you using equipment that's available in the average house.
In Flexographic printing they have a water based ink that use an amines to keep insolvents in solution until printed and a small fan removes the vapor and pigments are precipitated. This may also suspend graphite for your projects.
Hey Robert! it's been about a year and a half since you posted this video. I finally found a lab homogenizer that I could afford. its being shipped as I write this. I have been waiting to try this graphene recipe and I am so excited. I'm sorry to see that your Forward Working Group page no longer has graphene for sale. when I get set up in a few weeks I may be interested in supplying graphene. the prices I have seen on Ebay for graphene are expensive to ridiculous.
+thagrit let me know how you get on mate - i should warn you there are a lot of people getting into the graphene market and prices are already coming down current price is $1.50 per gram
+Robert Murray-Smith may I ask who is buying the graphine and what are they making with it ? Are there varying grades? what can and cant you do with the low grades ? (just being nosey, ionly have a laymans news report understanding (ie close to naff all).
+JusticeNature capacitors, plastic, touch screens - there are varying grades and diffent ones work well in one situation but badly in another - low grades are good for batteries
Once again gold from RMS!!
Robert! Is there a way for us to use a normal homogenizer that can go up to 13 k rpm, or do we have to ultrasonic homogenize it?
All the papers point to success with Ball milling and ultrasonic homoginizers.
Im trying to do this cheap and high quality
So glad I stumbled across your channel. You rock!
cheers mate
It’s important to make high-quality graphene, but it’s also important to use materials that would normally go to waste, or from sources that are renewable
Very interesting and informative.
Going back 45 yrs to Uni days, we evaluated blenders by blending dry wood shavings and sawdust. A good blender reduced the wood to wood flour, the finer the flour the better the blender.
I seem to recall that some Consumer review magazines (CHOICE here in Oz) also used this test in the past. But dodgy recollection may be misleading me,
there are some amazing blenders out there mate
Nail Polish Remover - who would have THAT would work? xD - Excellent work, Robert (yet again)
cheers mate
This information is priceless! Thank you!
NoHiDefView glad you found it useful mate
Thank you so much for uploading this. There is still hope when greed is trump by generosity!
cheers mate
Thanks to your videos i have successfully made graphene suspended in a solvent! The only issue i have is trying to extrude the graphine from the solvent in a powder form. I have a centrifuge however ive read that a centrifuge would just re-cluster the graphene into graphite. I was just curious on your take on using a centrifuge.
Hi Robert, again, another superb one. Thank you. Do you reckon why the need for leaving the final result sitting around for 2 weeks?
Thank yoThank you for your content. I am clearly new to chemistry and I am taking small steps with ”safety first”. Please indicate the simplest method of converting graphite 300 mesh into single or double layer graphene. Some chemicals and tools such as a kiln are simply not available in this small isolated country. Please indicate if the Potassium Permanganate can be substituted. I believe sodium hydroxide and potassium nitrate are both available. I was considering the electrical separation method but purchasing a welder is not my first choice. The total amount of graphite that needs to be converted is about 10-15 lbs. Any suggestions are welcome.
So I will be able to make pure synthetic graphene? Can you show me (and other people incapable of purchasing high end equipment) the final product? Thanks. Great video by the way.
I thought I had done that in other videos mate
Link please?
If I do this in my blender do I need to worry about the acetone eating away at the plastic jug it is blended in? Great videos!
But seriously I've learned more from you than any courses I've taken and have now made some low grade graphene with a graphite pencil dissolved in 1:1 ratio of acetone to water , I water 24 hours and have now little black particles which I believe to be graphene
good on ya mate
Robert Murray-Smith what is the strongest metal?
is it graphene
I worked on finger print spray years ago.... use fast evaporation alcohol like stx. mix power and alcohol and spray onto surface to atomize. once surface is coated... find a way to flash it to become what u need (laser,flash, lightening)... warning!!! must wear respirator and flash point is very low.
Yay I made it to the end :D. I bet that Homogenizer makes great milkshakes :D
Time to give the Breville a tubojet engine... Could use the exhaust to froth Cappuccinos XD.
pmsl
AWESOME WORK.
very nice! what is your method to check the graphene quality you obtain? measure conductivity and heat transmission? or compare its dispersion in water vs the initial graphite product?
Robert Murray-Smith I think I found the paper you mentioned. M Yi et al.,"Achieving concentrated graphene dispersions in water/acetone mixtures by the strategy of tailoring Hansen solubility parameters", J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 (2013) 025301 dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/2/025301
yep that's the one
Good, I read and digested every bit of it :)
it's a good article
thank you for your tutorials. Professor, may I ask, what kind of blender would I use that can run for an hour without burning out?
Hello,
Can you use any size graphite particles as a starting material with this method? or should one use the fairly large 35 mesh you have in this informative video?
Thanks for sharing!
Robert.
haha i love it! Thanks again! Blessings!
This is fantastic Rob, so if I understand what your saying you don't use soap anymore, you use just water and acetone? Also, I forgot which binder do you use to further process this into a paint?
yep - the binder system depends on what you want it to stick to i'm afraid - so there is no 'one' binder
Would a magnetic stirrer on high, work as a "mixer"?
Once the solution is evaporated off and im left with a mobius spaghetti of graphene, could I reconstitute it with a 3d printer resin with the homogenizer?
Thank you for your videos. Can this soapy graphene be adequate for making better concrete, better compressive strength, better young modulus,etc? Thanks.
Hi Robert! Love your videos!! Question, what was the yield in weight of final graphene?
Hiya Thanks - it depends on how long you process it for - if you repeat several times you get around 80% conversion
Would the end product be suitable for lubricating a chain once the solvent & water had evaporated?
Once graphene is made and stored, (solution drys out) will it bond back together to make regular graphite?
There's something that's needed its very new and no great way to make it in quantities.. Its hematene it's rust or iron oxide but only 2 dimensional like graphene the two make a new type of battery that runs on the molecular vibration of water huge new advance .thanks jim
+Robert Murray-Smith
Very interesting; Best yet!
As a centrifuge, could you not use an old upright spin drier?
For larger quantities!
Most people reading this, I don't mean your auto washing machine.
The old upright spin dryer.
You can pick em up for a few quid!
+John Drew like it mate - i must look for one and try it
Could you use a method similar to desalination for sea water to recover the evaporated acetone?
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) notes: "previously, descriptions such as graphite layers, carbon layers, or carbon sheets have been used for the term graphene...it is incorrect to use for a single layer a term which includes the term graphite, which would imply a three-dimensional structure. The term graphene should be used only when the reactions, structural relations or other properties of individual layers are discussed."
ok robert; youre videos have succesfully inflitrated my life where i can't stop thinking about it.
I'm gonna go out and make this.
do you have any advice about where to purchase the purest form of graphite?
how much do you need mate?
So, a water and acetone mixture of 25 to 75 will convert graphite to graphene? Why does this not produce only a colloid of graphite? Is an oxidation reaction occurring?
Hi Robert, Please advise a simple method for Q.C. checking of the graphene produced
Hi Robert great videos , i live in a hard water area and would like to know if its possible for me to make my Graphene water filter.
Thank you.
the beggining lol "if your not here to learn , fuck off"
lol - well basically - yes, exactly - lol
Hello Robert, Please advise a suitable make and model of mixer / blender and sonicator. Thanks
As someone new to the Graphene production. You stated you used a homogenizer and a centrifuge? How can you turn the Graphene into a pure sheet instead of a powder?
Hi Robert,
Instead of exfoliating the graphite with shear force, why not use heat? Maybe a reflux in acetone and water with a stirrer bar?
+Universal Chemicals Ltd interesting idea mate - have you tried it?
+Robert Murray-Smith I plan too, I have the necessary equipment (fumecupboard etc). I have skimmed the literature and I haven't seen anybody try to reflux or hear the graphite...I'm sure there must be some obvious reason for this.
+Universal Chemicals Ltd there sure is mate - no one has thought of it lol
i got one question, this graphene ink can be used to reinforce fiberglass sheets (and then be epoxi coated), meaning that once cured, it would help to make it harder to break or not. Thanks, your videos are really informative.
yes it can mate and thanks
Hello again Robert! I'm going to do some experimenting in the next few days - I finally got in my 200g of 5 micron sized graphite powder. It is nearly graphene to start with, wow its fine!
Anyways, I was wondering how you test your raw graphene as far as having it checked by a lab or somewhere that can verify it is actually few - layer graphene?
Thanks!
+David Larson I send it out to a test lab for a raman - it costs me £150 per test
+Robert Murray-Smith I'll have to look for a similar lab here in the US.
I was going to use the soap and water solution with mechanical exfoliation method, but I'm going to try an improved and simpler version of it with some slightly different ingredients, I'll let you know how it goes
Thanks again, take care!
+David Larson good luck with it mate - keep me in touch
Hello, I was wondering if the graphene is deposited on the side of the container as it evaporates. If so can it be removed or would you need to insert something in the container that it can deposit on and be removed together? Anyway, great videos and definitely subscribing!
i guess inserting would work well - nice idea cheers mate
Have u looked at the graphite oxide method where they use a disc burner and graphite oxide suspended in water and then hit by the infrared laser on the disc burner to get graphene just as a sheat or have print circuits they even use the sheet to create a quick diy flexible super capacitor could u make a video sharing your thoughts on that method?
Hi Rob, I know you are interested in NiFe batteries, too. Do you know how the acetone in this solution will react with nickel hydroxide? I was thinking I might attempt to make a slightly moistened paste by adding it a drop at a time to my nickel hydroxide and pressing it into an electrode. The same might work with the iron oxide? Btw... love your videos. Thanks for the inspirations.
Kevin Blyth e know how you get on because you are right i have a significant interest in NiFe
Kevin Blyth I was thinking along the same lines for DIY NiFe battery. The question, for me, is would the form of graphene be a good substitute for the Edison nickel snowflake? How is it best added to the hydrate? It appears to have been done at small scale, excuse the nanopun, by a Stanford team energy.stanford.edu/news/stanford-scientists-breathe-new-life-edison-battery, but my question is what is the likely mix production looking like? Any Ideas Rob?
Brennan Williams It quotes the the lead author of the study above as saying.... "In conventional electrodes, people randomly mix iron and nickel materials with conductive carbon," Wang explained. "Instead, we grew nanocrystals of iron oxide onto graphene, and nanocrystals of nickel hydroxide onto carbon nanotubes."
Grew? Way beyond me, can anyone explain?
Brennan Williams I am sorry mate - but to fully explain that would take a semester of degree level chemistry - I can't do that but I can direct your reading - your best place to start is google scholar
Brennan Williams I have lots of ideas mate - but so do other people - your best place to start is google scholar - read around the subject to improve your understanding - review the videos on battery basics it will help you grasp the concepts
Can this graphene be incorporated into polyurethane foam and other resins? Thanks.
yep
Robert Murray-Smith Does the process above create graphene one atom thick?
chad wilson
yep
Blue Peter indeed...well it was first made on someting similar to 'sticky backed plastic' :)
or in this case with a blender would there be benefit to ten minutes on and soak for 1 hour repeat repeat repeat? Cheap blenders have a low duty cycle and probably plastic bearings that deform when they get to hot if they have bearings at all😮
indeed
Hi, I'm stuck on something. If Graphene is a single, 2d layer of graphite carbon atoms, as I understand it, then how can there be 2,and3,4 etc. layer graphene? Wouldn't it still be graphite if it was multilayer graphene? I'm trying to catch up here, but I'm stuck.
Do you think that i can use the washed graphene oxide in alcohols oxidation process 🤔
Your videos are awesome!!
cheers mate
*Bulk Graphene Production - The clean and easy way!*
Funnily enough, CZcams suggests two skateboarding _"how tos"_ to me at the end of this. Hopefully more people will see this than those.
Nice work Robert :-)
BTW Rob: I haven't forgotten about the soap or your funding campaign, I've just been busy. You know how it is?
lol i do know how it is - and skateboarding lol !
Robert I am physically disabled but about the only part of my body that still works is my brain I have a question for you please. What form of carbon will the soot from an acetylene torch make. Might that be graphene straight off the tip of the torch?
I have used my torch and this soot to case harden tiny gun parts.
I wonder if the carbon soot might have been graphene and I not know it.
+john matthews it makes all kinds but it is mostly amorphous carbon mate
Hey Robert, how do you generally know which chemical to add to your stuff to get the desired effect?
Is it because you know the properties of the individual chemicals and how they behave, and therefore look for another chemical that will react *that* certain way that you want based on its properties? Or is it all just trial and error?
You always seem to "just know" exactly which chemical to add to what, to achieve X effect. :/
lol - well there is a great deal of trial and error you don't see - otherwise the channel would be twenty times as long and most of it would be failure lol
You could filter, dry and powder it, isn't this correct Rob?
dedlunch certainly - but so often you want to apply it onto something and if you do this you very often need to redisperse it - best is to decide what you want to do with it before you dry it as the drying step may well be a waste of time mate
Robert, do you have a book out on the collection of your dyi materials? graphene, conductive ink, etc. i thought i saw the title somewhere and cannot find it again...unless i made this up...? thanks for all these video's, cheers!
sorry mate - i don't but i have been thinking of writing one
Hi Robert, you have a question about magnifying graphemes for collecting energy. The kind that can be put back into the meter; have you tried it?
i don't understand mate
could you use rubbing alcohol as the solvent?
Hi Robert, after watching this video (all the way through lol:) I was wondering if the grapheen solution would be good for electrolysis like salt water or baking soda is?
thanks as always, Chris Armstrong.
ASV TV it's certainly worth a go mate
ASV TV Diddo
+Robert Murray-Smith Would electrolysis of MgSO4 or 98% H2SO4 with 99.9% graphite electrodes yield graphene?
+dylanail worth a try let me know how it goes
Ok, I will. One more thing, how could you make graphene oxide from pure graphene?
What is 325 mesh? Is that the same as Nickel Silver Mesh?
ok so we make a crayon slurpy with acetone and water... how we get the graphene out of solution and use it for something? paint spray mix? but then wouldn't the graphene become graphite again?
Been looking into getting some lab equipment to do little hobby experiments like this but man... even the cheaper equipment isn't cheap. Even something like a centrifuge is just under 100 pounds.
Still, great video.
I am just wondering if I can soak a piece of towel or cloth in the freshly mixed graphine to create a conductive layer or if I have to wait and try to cetrafuge, however that's done? any help would be great, thanks
+Kevin Davis It's worth a try mate - give it a go and let me know how you get on
Can you use a router? I have power tools and not much in the way of a chemical lab.
I was just wondering if you could show the sheet if graphene
I wondered whilst watching this and you came to a point of looking for a coating to make freestanding Graphene.. and one thing came to mind was Silecon Hydrophobic solution, how might that react in acetone/water mixture?
+MR FISHBOOTS don't know - give it a go and see - oh by the way you could let me know too lol
Would it be possible to mix grafene into a clear solution like say a vaccine ?
A cheap angle grinder spins at 10,000rpm and will run for hours with a light load. Only thing is, you would have to make a framework to hold it (old bed-frame?) and some sort of extended shaft 'paddle'' Probably still less than £30.00 though? Only recently found your vids, they are fascinating and great to be public domain. I guess it keeps you 'safe' from the nefarious business interests so you don't disappear under strange circumstances?
Hi Robert, first of all thank you for your generous contributions to the human species as a whole, and not just corporate interests!
I've been following your videos for a while and this method appears to be one of the best, because from what I understand if you have a high rpm mixer and a centrifuge you don't need a sonicator, is that correct?
I'm asking that because where I live it's really hard to get a sonicator, but I would like to make experiments as well, so considering I can't get a sonicator here should I use this method?
Also, Is there a way to do the Tour method without using sonication at the end of the cleaning step?
Thank you very much.
Gilberto Morais i did a video on cleaning graphene oxide mate - have a look at that - this is a fair enough method if you want to try it
Robert Murray-Smith
I saw that video, but it's for cleaning graphete oxide only right? Is that cleaning also required in the acetone method you show here, or is a centrifuge enough?
Gilberto Morais yeah sorry mate - it was for GO - centrifuge should be enough
Robert Murray-Smith
One more thing, does your homogeneizer use ultrasound, or is it the equivalent of a high rpm blender?
Gilberto Morais it's a high rpm blender basically
Hi Robert. I always wanted to know what education you needed or have done to conduct your research. much appreciated
i think the minimum you need mate is an enquiring mind
Haha nice quality to have. But in terms of being educated to conduct research or have the knowledge to carry on tasks like these. Where did your curriculum come from. An engineering degree perhaps. Much appreciated
I'm a chemist mate
i
Though I am not set up to do i, I have wondered if you could get a coating of graphene on to a plate if you were to electrolize benezine? It is, after all, made up of only hydrogen and carbon, so there would be no other elements to contend with. Steps would have to be made to assure no oxygen were ever present, of course. I know it would be dangerous, but would it be possible ??
dunno mate - have a look at google scholar and see if anyone has tried
Doesn`t acetone and water end up being an emulsion? (Think I read that somewhere recently) BTW is acetone a preservative?
+Colin Hammill no it's miscible - and i have no idea as a preservative
You are my favorite person on earth. I hope to develop a dispositive with your videos. Thank you
Thanks for the insight. I got a little frustrated trying to filter soapy graphene myself. I tried just using 99.9% isopropyl but the graphite doesn't exfoliate in that solution. Was thinking about doing an experiment with toluene, but that is kind of nasty stuff.
Have you researched or had any experience with electrostatic deposition for graphene layering. I read short little paper on it and it was an interesting concept. Just curious on your thoughts about that as a viable option to get a near "single layer" graphene sheet(s).
you making graphene my friend?
Yeah, I have been dabbling with it. Turned out very soapy like he Robert said. Difficult to clean off and use for capacitor tech :)
hmmm....some brain food givem to me....
do you have the title to the paper?
arxiv.org/pdf/0808.1577.pdf?origin=publication_detail
There you go, its using a gaseous medium for the deposition. Might be possible to use a electrolyte if one could charge the graphene particles and deposit them into a negatively charged dielectric that wont bond to the nano particulate graphite.
And what is the best way of crushing the carbon electrode's from cheap batteries?
Great video Robert! What is the possibilities of doing these in Hi-def?
none whatsoever mate - sorry
i do this to inform and making videos takes a lot of time - I am not a video production company just a guy sharing what i have done - i would rather spend my time doing experiments - the videos are good enough to pass the info. At first they were pretty rubbish but now they are about good enough and I am unlikely to spend more money on video equipment and I am unlikely to spend more time on video production.
Robert Murray-Smith I do my videos with a 2004 Canon S1 IS. It's elderly but it works. The key is it needs really good lighting. Several CFLS did the trick for me.
I agree - keep using the camera you have. I know full well about how long it takes to make videos so I feel your pain.
hi Robert ,would it help to sonicate then let soak for awhile then sonicate and soak etc repeat repeat repeat ? or would sitting there soak not effect the vanderwalls at all?
give it a go mate
new you were going to say that 😄but really ,do you have an opinion on the vanderwalls strength being effected by soaking?
lol - i am an open book - lol i suspect there will be a small degree of intercalation reducing the force - but it might be very small
I wonder if we could use it in pure graphene solution as a sort of liquid fuel cell.... it may promote conductivity? ? just a hypothesis
+Michael Ankh interesting idea mate