[Research Report] Our discovery of a key process in 3D graphene fabrication has been the subject of a cover story in the journal

New research results on the synthesis process of Graphene MesoSponge^® (GMS), a next-generation carbon material that 3DC plans to mass-produce, have been published from Nishihara Laboratory.

The research was published in the August 1, 2023 issue of the journal Chemical Science and featured on the cover.

3DC is the university start-up company that aims to commercialize GMS, which was invented at the Nishihara Laboratory (Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University). Currently, some patents related to GMS have been transferred from Tohoku University to 3DC.

In order to apply graphene to energy storage devices, it is necessary to form graphene into a three-dimensional structure while preventing stacking. However, it has been difficult to freely form graphene into a three-dimensional structure.

To solve this problem, this research group has been working on the development of a synthesis method for 3D graphene materials using a unique template carbonization method. GMS, which 3DC plans to mass-produce, is also synthesized by this method.

In this study, the mechanism of “graphene repair by high-temperature heat treatment (zipping reaction)”, which is the final step of the above template synthesis method, was elucidated for the first time. Specifically, it was found that the edges of adjacent graphene fused together in a “zipper-like” fashion, introducing five- and seven-membered rings to form a single, large-area piece of graphene.

This zipping process will be a stepping stone to synthesizing 3D graphene at will.

Please see below for details.
①Paper
Chemistry of zipping reactions in mesoporous carbon consisting of minimally stacked graphene layers
②Press release from Tohoku University
3次元グラフェン造形のキープロセスを解明 6員環のエッジに5員環や7員環が組み込まれてジッピング