Fabrication of graphene‐covered micro‐tubes for process intensification
File(s)Manuscript_revision.pdf (10.86 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Graphene is known for its high surface‐area‐to‐mass ratio. However, for graphene to be used in engineering processes such as catalytic reactors or heat exchangers, high surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio is essential. Currently, graphene is only prepared in sheet form, which limits its surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio to around 200 m2 m−3. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a technique based on chemical vapour deposition (CVD) to realise graphene on a copper‐based micro‐tubular substrate to not only substantially increase its surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio to a value over 2000 m2 m−3, but also to eliminate maldistribution of flows commonly unavoidable in flat‐sheet configurations. Our approach uses a dual‐layer micro‐tubular substrate fabricated by a phase‐inversion facilitated co‐extrusion technique. In the substrate, a thin copper outer layer is employed to enable the CVD growth of graphene, and an inner Cu‐Fe layer is adopted to provide a strong mechanical support. Our study shows that this approach is feasible to produce graphene with a very high surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio for possible practical applications in catalytic reactors or heat exchangers, though problems such as the inter‐diffusion between the two metal layers and defects in graphene need to be further addressed. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to prepare graphene with high surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio by a CVD route.
Date Issued
2019-11
Date Acceptance
2019-08-07
Citation
Advanced Engineering Materials, 2019, 21 (11), pp.1-6
ISSN
1438-1656
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1
End Page
6
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Engineering Materials
Volume
21
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2019 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This is the accepted version of the following article: Chong, J. Y., Wang, B. , Sherrell, P. C., Pesci, F. M., Mattevi, C. and Li, K. (2019), Fabrication of Graphene‐Covered Micro‐Tubes for Process Intensification. Adv. Eng. Mater.. Accepted Author Manuscript, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201900642
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Commission of the European Communities
The Royal Society
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adem.201900642
Grant Number
EP/M022250/1
EP/K016792/1
EP/K01658X/1
660721
RGF/EA/180090
Subjects
0912 Materials Engineering
Materials
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
adem.201900642
Date Publish Online
2019-08-16