Executive Summary : | The proposals deals with an idea of producing graphene platelets in solution by impacting a high-speed jet of fluid, initially containing graphite particles, on a suitable hard substrate. The invention has been tested, at the present moment, only using molecular dynamic simulations under dry impact conditions. Simulations show that suitable conditions, that are practically achievable based on other unrelated applications, exist under which graphite particles exfoliate to leave behind exfoliated graphene after impact. Under fluid conditions it is expected that lower impact speeds are sufficient since shearing will be aided by the viscous fluid layers. The invention is expected to be practical also because unrelated reports on liquid-based shearing processes that are shown to produce graphene platelets are highly suspected to be of low speed impact type although not acknowledged to be so, and this proposed invention can be better in yield than these reported processes due to its purposeful application of high speed impact. |