Ultrahigh Temperature Annealing and Laser Irradiation: A Potential Route to Producing Valuable Electronic Materials from Coal

Michael A. Seas

M.S., Department of Chemical Engineering, May 2018

Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Time: 12pm

Location: EN 3076

Recent work seeking to produce simpler, more efficient ways of producing graphene has generated widespread interest in new methods for generating graphene/graphite oxide (GO). Graphene/graphite oxide is an oxidized form of graphene and graphite, where upon heating, can be reduced back to its graphene/graphite state. When dispersed into solution, GO can be utilized as a sprayable ink to generate large area thin films quickly. Recent work has shown that thin graphene oxide films can be quickly patterned via the use of a laser to produce regions of conductive material orders of magnitudes higher than the insulating carbon matrix it is patterned in. More broadly, this process utilizes a thermodynamically driven process that may be extended to various carbon species. In this work, I present an analysis of the thermodynamically driven process as it occurs in powdered samples of various carbon species. I demonstrate that large area carbon thin films can be generated from these same species with relevant transmission properties. I then show that it is possible to produce laser graphitized regions of graphene oxide thin films of various thicknesses. Finally, I attempt to make suggestions about what must be done in order for this process to gain industrial relevance.