Synthesis of High-Density Graphene Foams Using Nanoparticle Templates

Graphene foams grown by CVD on commercially available Ni foam templates were first reported in 2011. Since then they have been investigated widely due to their ability to transfer many of the unique properties of graphene to the macroscopic scale, with high surface area, high electrical conductivity and good structural integrity. However, the pore-size range is typically 200-400 ?m, so much of the volume is unoccupied by the functional graphene material. We report a new synthesis procedure that produces graphene foams with pore sizes in the range of 1-10 ?m, by using a sacrificial template of metal nanoparticles sintered together to form a network. These materials could have wide-ranging applications in fields such as high-density energy storage, membranes and sensing.