GB2555097A

GB2555097A - Apparatus and method for bulk production of atomically thin 2-dimensional materials including graphene

Info

Publication number: GB2555097A
Application number: GB1617392.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ladislaus Paul; Glasgow Lee; Mchale Ronan
Original assignee: Thomas Swan and Co Ltd
Current assignee: Thomas Swan and Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-10-13
Filing date: 2016-10-13
Publication date: 2018-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-13
Also published as: GB201617392D0; GB2555097B

Abstract

An apparatus for the production of graphene by the delamination of a bulk laminar material (e.g. graphite) comprises: a pump (112, fig 5) for pumping a fluid suspension of solid particles towards core components 10. The core components comprise: a fluid conduit 12 having a principle axis for conveying said fluid, where the fluid conduit is arranged to direct fluid from the conduit against an impact head 16. The impact head has an impact face 18 perpendicular to the principle axis, and the impact head and conduit are arranged so that a variable gap 20 of between 500µm and 1µm results between an end of the conduit and the impact head, where the gap forms a continuous region surrounding the end of the conduit and coplanar with the impact head. An impact head surround 26 extends the region in which the fluid is constrained before exiting the core components. The impact head is configured so as to be movable along the principle axis so as to vary the gap, which variation may be mediated by a pneumatic pressure.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Thomas Swan & Co. Limited (Incorporated in the United Kingdom)

Administration Offices, Rotary Way, Consett, Durham, DH8 7ND, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

Paul Ladislaus Lee Glasgow Ronan McHale (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Patent Outsourcing Limited 1 King Street, BAKEWELL, Derbyshire, DE45 1DZ, United Kingdom (51) INT CL:

C01B 32/184 (2017.01) B02C 19/00 (2006.01) C01B 21/064 (2006.01) (56) Documents Cited:

WO 2015/099378 A1 WO 2004/052567 A1 KR20160087417 (58) Field of Search:

INT CL B02C, C01B, C01G

Other: WPI, EPODOC, TXTA, INSPEC, XPSPRNG,

XPESP (54) Title of the Invention: Apparatus and method for bulk production of atomically thin 2-dimensional materials including graphene

Abstract Title: Apparatus for the production of graphene (57) An apparatus for the production of graphene by the delamination of a bulk laminar material (e.g. graphite) comprises: a pump (112, fig 5) for pumping a fluid suspension of solid particles towards core components 10. The core components comprise: a fluid conduit 12 having a principle axis for conveying said fluid, where the fluid conduit is arranged to direct fluid from the conduit against an impact head 16. The impact head has an impact face 18 perpendicular to the principle axis, and the impact head and conduit are arranged so that a variable gap 20 of between 500pm and 1pm results between an end of the conduit and the impact head, where the gap forms a continuous region surrounding the end of the conduit and coplanar with the impact head. An impact head surround 26 extends the region in which the fluid is constrained before exiting the core components. The impact head is configured so as to be movable along the principle axis so as to vary the gap, which variation may be mediated by a pneumatic pressure.

/4

Figure 1

72.

2/4

Figure 3

Figure 4

3/4

4/4

Figure 6

Figure 7

Apparatus and method for bulk production of atomically thin 2-dimensional materials including graphene

The present invention relates to a process for producing atomically thin 2-dimensional materials, for example, graphene. In particular, the invention is directed to a simple, scalable process for producing high-quality, defect-free, unoxidised 2-dimensional materials, for example graphene, in commercially useful quantities. Such a material will have applications in composites, coatings, thermal management and electronic devices where properties of electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, barrier and mechanical strength are of importance.

Background to the Invention

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon, consisting of sheets of a few atoms thickness in a hexagonal structure. Analogues of this material can include other chemistries which include boron nitride and molybdenum disulphide.

Graphite, the widely used mineral is effectively a crystalline form of graphene, in which layers of graphene are bound together by van der Waals forces. Graphene has attracted considerable interest since its discovery as an isolatable material in 2004. The novel mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the material suggest a number of uses. Graphene can be produced on a laboratory scale sufficient for experimental analysis, but production in commercial quantities is still a developing area. Other single layered structures such as boron nitride are expected to exhibit similarly interesting properties in the nanotechnology field.

A review of this technology has been compiled by Min Yi and Zhigang Shen and their titled Ά review on mechanical exfoliation for the scalable production of graphene', Journal of Materials Chemistry, A, 2015, 3,11700 provides an overview of the state of the art regarding graphene production.

Bottom-up techniques, such as chemical vapour deposition and epitaxial growth, can yield highquality graphene with a small number of defects. The resultant graphene is a good candidate for electronic devices. However, these thin-film growth techniques suffer from a limited scale and complex and hence expensive production, and cannot meet the requirements of producing industrially relevant quantities of graphene.

Large-scale production of graphene at a low cost has been demonstrated using top-down techniques, whereby graphene is produced through the direct exfoliation of graphite, sometimes suspended in a liquid phase. The starting material for this is three-dimensional graphite, which is separated by mechanical and/or chemical means to reveal graphene sheets a few atoms thick.

The original technique used by the discoverers of graphene, the Scotch Tape method can be used to prepare high-quality and large-area graphene flakes. This technique uses adhesive tape to pull successive layers from a sample of graphite. Based on the graphene samples prepared by this method, many outstanding properties of graphene have been discovered. However, this method is extremely labour-intensive and time consuming. It is limited to laboratory research and seems unfeasible to scale up for industrial production.

The three-roll mill technique is a method to scale up the Scotch Tape method, using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) dissolved in dioctylphthalate (DOP) as the adhesive on moving rolls which can provide continuous exfoliation. Though the three-roll mill machine is a known industrial technique, the complete removal of residual PVC and DOP to obtain graphene is not easy and brings about additional complexity.

Prof. Jonathan Coleman's group at Trinity College Dublin have developed a high-yield production of graphene by the sonication assisted liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite in 2008. Starting with graphite powder dispersed in specific organic solvents, followed by sonication and centrifugation, they obtained a graphene dispersion. This method of producing graphene is capable of scaling up but one shortcoming is the extremely low graphene concentration (around 0.01 mg/mL) of the suspension produced, which is not necessarily suitable for bulk production.

Additionally, ultrasonic processors can only achieve the high power density required in small volumes, so it is difficult to scale up this process to achieve any economy of scale. A relevant disclosure can be found in W02013/010211A1.

Shear force techniques.

As is well known, graphite layers have a low resistance to shear force which makes graphite a useful lubricant. This has been exploited in a number of techniques which apply shear force to exfoliate graphene from graphite.

Ball milling, a common technique in the powder industry, is a method of generating shear force. A secondary effect is the collisions or vertical impacts by the balls during rolling actions which can fragment graphene flakes into smaller ones, and sometimes even destroy the crystalline nature of structures.

Several improvements to the ball milling technique have been attempted, such as wet ball milling with the addition of solvents, but these techniques still require a very long processing time (around 30 hours) and produce a high number of defects even if suitable for industrial scale, bulk, production. A relevant disclosure can be found in WO 2012117251 Al.

Some shear force production techniques have used an ion intercalation step prior to applying the shear force to weaken the inter-layer bonds. This reduces the energy required to exfoliate the graphite into graphene, but the resulting graphene may be contaminated with residual ions contaminating the finished product, and the process requires additional time and cost which reduces the industrial application of this technique.

More recently fluid dynamics based methods have emerged for graphite exfoliation. These are based on mixing graphite in a powder or flake form with a fluid to form a suspension, the fluid can then be subjected to turbulent or viscous forces which apply shear stress to the suspended particles.

Usually the fluid is a liquid of the type often used as a solvent and it may include a surfactant mixture tailored to the removal of the solvent from the finished product.

One method of generating the shear forces is with a high shear, for example a rotary mixer. Graphene exfoliation has been demonstrated using a kitchen blender to create shear forces on graphite particles in suspension. This process has been scaled up using commercial high shear mixers comprising rotating blades passing in close proximity to an aperture screen to produce high shear. The graphite particles experience a shear force applied by the fluid due to the difference in velocity of the mixing blades and the static shear screen. A relevant disclosure can be found in WO2012/028724A1 and WO 2014/140324 Al.

A further method is the use of a high pressure homogeniser with a micro fluidiser. The micro fluidiser in this case consists of a channel with microscale dimensions, meaning of around 75pm. Fluid is forced through the channel from an inlet to an outlet using high pressure. Because of the narrow dimensions of the channel, there is a high shear force generated by viscous friction between the walls and the bulk flow which leads to delamination of the graphite. This method requires very high pressures and the starting graphite must already have been comminuted into the micron size range. A relevant disclosure can be found in WO2015/099457.

There exists a need for a graphene production process that can produce graphene using less energy, that can be scaled up to high rates of production without loss of quality of the finished product. Such an apparatus is disclosed in copending UK patent application GB15181.5. That apparatus provides a fluid conduit for impacting a suspension of particles to be de-laminated against an impact head having an impact face and an annular gap. In practice it has been found that the apparatus has a limited lifespan before maintenance is required as the annular gap can either become clogged with particulate material and/or become worn so as to provide an uneven gap through which suspension preferentially flows and which in turn makes the gap even larger. Whilst these two problems tend to be mutually exclusive they are not necessarily so. Clogging tends to occur when fresh suspension is introduced, i.e. larger particles and an unworn head. Wear of the type mentioned tends to occur after prolonged use. There is a need to provide an improved apparatus if the purpose of the apparatus is for the industrial scale delamination of suspensions of laminar material, such as for the production of graphene from graphite, and industrial production requires operation over a prolonged period of time, such as hours if not days of operation. This application predominantly addresses the question of blockage.

Definition of the invention

The present invention seeks to overcome the problems in previous techniques to provide a production method for graphene that is rapid, scalable to industrial quantities and energy efficient. The present invention in its various aspects is as set out in the appended claims.

In a first aspect the present invention provides:

an apparatus for the production of Graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of a bulk laminar material, such as graphite; the apparatus comprising:

a main pump (112), suitable for pumping a fluid, the fluid being a suspension of solid particles of the bulk laminar material, at a pressure of greater than IMPa, towards and in fluid communication with;

core components (10), the core components comprising:

a fluid conduit (12) having a principal axis suitable for conveying said fluid, wherein the fluid conduit is arranged to direct fluid at said pressure from that conduit against;

an impact head (16) having an impact face (28) perpendicular or predominantly perpendicular to said principal axis; the impact head and the conduit being arranged so that a variable, preferably annular, gap (20) of between 500pm and lpm results between an end (24) of the conduit proximate to the impact head and the impact head wherein the gap forms a continuous region surrounding the end of the conduit and being substantially coplanar with the impact head; and an impact head surround (26) which extends the region in which the fluid is constrained before exiting the core components wherein, the impact head (16) of the apparatus is configured so as to be movable along the principal axis relative to the proximal end (24) of the conduit so as to vary the gap (20) and wherein that variation is mediated by means of a pneumatic pressure directly or indirectly in opposition to the force exerted on the impact head along the principle axis to, in use, the pressure applied by the pumped fluid.

As such, in use, the fluid before the impact head exerts a backpressure against which the upstream main pump works, and as the impact head (16) of the apparatus is configured so as to be movable along the principal axis relative to the proximal end (24) of the conduit this causes the annular gap (20) to vary, said variation being mediated by means of the pneumatic pressure, such as mediated by a pneumatic link from a control apparatus. The pneumatic pressure is in opposition to said backpressure such that the gap varies, in use, as a function of the backpressure. That variation need not be large and variation in the order of 1 to 10pm may be sufficient to provide the benefit of reduced blocking.

The above apparatus addresses the problem of blockage. Specifically, in use it has been found that blockage of the gap between the impact head and the end of the conduit gives rise to an increased backpressure, and whilst it may be expected that this may in itself be able to clear any blockage this has not in practice been found to be the case. Some blockages appear to be associated with particles which will not fit through the 500pm to lpm gap but results in practice suggest that other mechanisms may be in play. In any case, apparatus with a fixed gap can, over time, become blocked or at least backpressure increases giving increased wear on the pump and higher energy requirements are necessary for the apparatus in use.

In a second aspect, the present invention therefore also encompasses the use of the apparatus described herein for the production of Graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of a bulk laminar material. The laminar material is preferably selected from graphite, hexagonal boron nitride or molybdenum disulphide. A reduction in blockage may be observed using the apparatus described herein.

The apparatus addresses the problem of blockage because the increased backpressure, i.e. the fluid pressure at the impact head, compresses the gas in the pneumatic linkage which then results in the gap increasing in size and so releasing material trapped in the gap. In practice the process appears to be more sophisticated than this as the degree of movement appears to be quite small and an additional mechanism appears to be that small fluctuations in normal supply pressure give rise to a slight pumping action of the impact head which is speculated to serve as a reciprocating crusher of trapped particles so that no significant blockage necessarily takes place requiring significant increase in backpressure. In other words, it would appear that even a small amount of pneumatically mediated movement is sufficient to avoid blockage, such as from 1 to 10pm. This has the advantage that the system does not periodically discharge a large amount of material which is not passed through the normal gap size and quality is surprisingly maintained even in the situation where the gap size is not constant.

From the above it will be understood how the variation is mediated by means of the pneumatic pressure, such as mediated by a pneumatic link, as a function of the backpressure. That link is described as being mediated by the pressure, by this it is meant that the pneumatic link is directly responsive to the backpressure, which causes movement of the impact head along its axis but may do so by means of an intermediate mechanical function such as a lever. Similarly, the pneumatic link need not be, and is preferably not a simple air pocket behind the impact head as the pressures are such that direct pneumatic compression may not be reliable. It is therefore preferable that the pneumatic element, such as a gas pocket, acts upon intermediate mechanical linkages such that the pneumatic pressure is preferably less than the backpressure and is very preferably in the ratio of 10:2 to 10:0.1 between the in use backpressure of the incoming fluid and the pneumatic pressure. This serves to enable ready adjustment of the pneumatic pressure such as by incoming compressed air or by a release valve. The present arrangement has the additional advantage that not only is the gap variable at a given setting (i.e. the gap will vary around an average value), such as at a given volume of pneumatic gas but that the total amount of gas may be varied such as to readily vary the overall average gap at any given time. (i.e. the gap will vary around a different, higher or lower, average value such as if gas is respectively withdrawn or added).

The term backpressure refers to the pressure, in use, of a suspension of the suspended laminar material being delaminated as exerted on the impact face of the impact head.

The pneumatic pressure of a gas may be the pressure of air or preferably of an inert gas such as nitrogen, preferably dry nitrogen.

The apparatus of the present invention gives rise to a more reliable and more readily adjustable apparatus for the delamination of suspended laminar materials, such as graphite, hexagonal boron nitride and molybdenum disulphide for the industrial production of their corresponding delaminated material.

Preferably, the use of the apparatus of the present invention is where the solid particles are particles of graphite, hexagonal boron nitride or molybdenum disulphide. Most preferably the solid particles are graphite.

The fluid may be a suspension, in the particle size range lpm to lOOOpm. The benefits and capabilities of this general type of apparatus have been disclosed in copending UK patent application GB15181.5. This apparatus has been found to enable delamination of graphite and similar laminar materials at pressures and energy levels below those required by a microfluidiser. This has the additional advantage that heat build-up in the process is reduced.

A (substantially) perpendicular arrangement and within a narrow band of pneumatically mediated movement, annular spacing is highly beneficial for providing consistent product. Substantially perpendicular therefore encompasses at most a 10° offset, preferably no more than 1°, most preferably no more than 0.1°. Such an offset may be conical.

However, consistent product quality may not be obtained after prolonged use, prolonged sometimes being no more than numbers of hours. As can be seen in an exaggerated example in figure 6, a weak point in the impact head can give rise to localised erosion and the annular gap can become uneven, giving rise to a localised channel of larger dimensions, this can then wear away to the extent shown in figure 1, during which time product quality rapidly decreases as the amount of suspension undergoing the required shear/impact regime of the apparatus reduces as does the pressure drop across the impact head.

It has been found that providing an impact head which is symmetric about a longitudinal axis in line with the principal axis overcomes the issue of selective wear. It appears that having a symmetrical head allows a degree of rotation and this serves to even out wear. This is surprising since in an initial view a rotatable head should rotate to give the maximum aperture size so as to relieve the incoming pressure and hence should exacerbate localised wear. However, whilst not wishing to be bound by theory, the high degree of turbulence in this apparatus is speculated to give rise to non-linear forces and combine, perhaps, with vibration. This means that the forces giving rise to rotation of the head can outweigh those which would preferentially orientate it to provide the largest gap.

The effects of this ability to rotate, arising from the symmetry of the impact head in relation to the incoming fluid, can be seen with a replacement head operated for a similar length of time, as seen in figure 7. Here there is some evidence of localised wear over a span of around 50°, as shown by the lighter colour, but this is by no means to the extent shown in figure 1 in which localised wear is understood to have rapidly widened to provide the notch shown.

The impact head of the apparatus may be freely rotatable about the principal axis. This has been shown to be effective, as mentioned above.

The impact face of the impact head may be symmetrical. This is preferable because asymmetry, such as to encourage rotation of the impact head and therefore more readily even out wear, has not been found to be beneficial as in practice a point of localised wear does actually occur (such as if the notch is present) or if configured to induce rotation the high pressures of the device give such a degree of rotation that spinning, chattering and wear of the bore in which the impact head is located may occur.

Nevertheless, it is also contemplated that the impact head (16) of the apparatus is configured to be rotatable about the principal axis as constrained by a mechanism. The mechanism may for example, be a shaft with a drive rate, such as 0.1 to 10 rotations per minute. Although this is not preferred as it gives rise to additional complexity and may be difficult to implement given the forces and pressures involved.

For completeness, the impact head of the apparatus of the present invention is rotatable. This term will be interpreted by the skilled person to mean that under the forces of operation rotation may occur. It does not mean that the head will necessarily spin freely or be capable of moving by hand or even with simple tools, such as when not in operation, as the clearances of the parts, such as the impact head in the bore of the device which may receive it are close.

The present invention therefore includes an apparatus having both an impact head of the aforementioned geometry in combination with a pneumatically mediated adjustment mechanism as also described herein.

The impact head may comprise normal engineering materials, such as steel. This is not surprising since prior art disclosures all use steel or stainless steel apparatus given that graphite and graphene are good lubricants. In particular, graphite has a Hardness (Mohs) of 1-2 and a Hardness (Vickers) of VHN10=7-ll kg/mm², this in comparison to a conventional steel of Hardness (Mohs) 4-4.5 and for high speed steel VHN10=7-ll kg/mm². However, we have surprisingly found that harder impact head materials provide potentially greater throughput. Whilst not wishing to be bound by theory it is thought that the elasticity of the impact head is lower for harder materials and therefore exfoliation is made more efficient. However, chromium with a Hardness (Mohs) of 8.5 is not necessarily better than steel (for which wear and abrasion with quality graphite has not been an issue) whereas the group alumina, silicon nitride, tungsten carbide, silicon carbide, boron nitride and diamond are preferred. In particular, diamond is the most preferred. Whilst not wishing to be bound by theory it would appear that the energy of interaction between diamond and graphite, both of course being carbon materials, is the lowest but the difference in crystal structure of diamond and graphite gives rise to the necessary hardness.

The apparatus of the present invention has been found to be more efficacious when the impact head is cooled. It is not entirely clear why this is the case as the viscosity of the fluid should be greater at low-temperature. The apparatus of the present invention preferably comprises a cooled impact head, the apparatus is preferably configured to enable the impact head, when in use at a flow rate of greater than 1000 l/hr, to be maintained at a temperature less than 50°C, preferably less than 25°C, most preferably less than 10°C. It has been found that the most efficient surface cooling of the impact head is obtained using a diamond impact head.

Method of the invention

In a third aspect the present invention provides a method for exfoliation of laminar materials to produce atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of bulk material; the method comprises the steps of providing the apparatus hereinbefore described and passing through the apparatus a suspension of laminar material in a liquid.

In the method of the present invention the laminar material is preferably graphite and the atomic scale laminar material is graphene.

The liquid in which the laminar material is suspended is preferably water. Water is preferable due to its high specific heat capacity which better enables the process to be run in the temperature range of 30°C to 80°C. In addition, the localised head temperature, which is previously mentioned, is preferably below room temperature which is more easily maintained with water as the liquid. Other suitable liquids are liquid hydrocarbons.

The method of the present invention is preferably operated at a temperature of from 30°C to 80°C.

The graphite is preferably in the particle size range lpm to lOOOpm, more preferably in the particle size range 3 to 50pm, most preferably in the size range 15-25 pm. The size may be determined using a Malvern Mastersizer using the D4,3 particle size measure.

Laminar material, preferably graphite, loading in the liquid phase is preferably in the range up to 500 grams per litre (g/l). More preferably laminar material loading is 10-125 g/l, most preferably 125 g/l.

The fluid of the present invention is impacted upon the impact head at a pressure of greater than IMPa, more preferably at a pressure in the range lOMPa to 150MPa, still more preferably in the range 40MPa to 100 MPa, most preferably at a pressure in the range 50MPa to 70MPa. The pressure selection gives an optimised throughput, yield and energy consumption. Hence, the pneumatic counter-pressure opposing the backpressure is preferably mediated by a pneumatic link, as a function of the backpressure, to avoid the need for very high pressure air seals which may hinder the variation in impact head movement.

It has been surprisingly found that it is not simply a case of the higher the pressure the better, this potentially giving higher impact forces upon the impact head, but that an optimum pressure range is found. This optimum range provides a highest quality of laminate sheet, such as graphene. Whilst not wishing to be bound by theory it is considered that unduly high system energies result in breakup of the laminate. There is therefore an optimum pressure range for a system configured with an impact head such that the solid in the fluid is laminated (exfoliated) whilst the exfoliated laminar sheets are not unduly damaged.

The method of the present invention preferably comprises a fluid in which a surfactant is present. Suitable surfactants include sodium alkyl benzene sulphonate and tetra butyl ammonium chloride. The preferred surfactant is sodium cholate.

The surfactant is preferably an anionic or cationic surfactant which can be neutralised to remove its anionic or cationic character respectively so as to enable facile removal of the surfactant from the fluid. The method of the present invention therefore optionally comprises a neutralisation step of taking the fluid resulting from the method, the fluid comprising an anionic or cationic surfactant and laminar sheets of material, preferably graphene, and neutralising said surfactant before washing said surfactant from the sheet of material (which may during this process precipitate), so as to produce a composition consisting of laminar sheets of material.

The method of the present invention preferably comprises a filtration step in which particulate material is removed by said filtration step (using whatever mechanism). The filtration step may preferably take place after the neutralisation step.

The present invention also encompasses the second aspect of the use of a high pressure homogeniser, such as of the type disclosed with respect to the drawings, for the production of graphene from graphite in aqueous suspension.

The conditions and parameters relevant to the method of the present invention are also applicable to the configuration of the apparatus of the present invention. Unless mentioned otherwise herein temperatures are at 25°C and atmospheric pressure is 1 atm.

Specific Description

The apparatus of the present invention will now be illustrated by means of the following figures in which:

figure 1 shows a schematic view of the fluid path through the apparatus of the present invention and illustrates core components;

figure 2 shows a schematic view in cross-section of a first arrangement of core components of the apparatus of the present invention;

figure 3 shows a schematic view in cross-section of a second arrangement of core components of the apparatus of the present invention;

figure 4 shows a schematic view in cross-section of a second arrangement of core components of the apparatus of the present invention;

figure 5 shows a schematic view of a system or apparatus of the present invention comprising the core components in conjunction with auxiliary components to provide an optimal processing system for performing the method of the present invention.

Figure 6 shows an impact head having suffered damage by use over prolonged use and which was constrained from rotation.

Figure 7 shows an impact head having suffered minimal wear from use over prolonged use and which was not constrained from rotation.

The diagrams provide the following features:

assembly of core components;

fluid conduit/volume;

entrance to fluid conduit at a point distal from the impact head;

impact head assembly;

optional facing (impact face) of impact head assembly;

annulus / annular gap;

202 frusto conical annulus / frusto conical annular gap;

204 outer annulus / outer annular gap;

support structure:

exit of fluid conduit proximal to the impact head/proximal end of the conduit;

242 proximal end of the conduit, alternative form;

impact head surround;

face of the impact head;

conduit/pipe; (lower line figure 5).

100 system or (extended) apparatus of the present invention;

110 starting material vessel;

112 high pressure pump;

114 valve;

124 pressure drop valve;

116 finished product vessel;

118 chiller/cooler.

Referring to figures 1 to 4. In use the apparatus of the present invention has fluid pumped from a pump 112 through a conduit 32 and 12 in the form of a pipe which terminates as part of the core assembly 10. The core assembly 10 has a proximal end 24 of the pipe 12/32 in which fluid in the volume of the conduit 12 exits the conduit under pressure so as to impact upon impact head 16; which can have a face of a hardened material 18. When the fluid impacts upon the face of the impact head it then travels through annulus 20 defined between the face 28 of the impact head and the proximal end of the conduit 24 before exiting the core components, such as to be recirculated or to recover it as finished product. In the particular figure a further impact head surround 26 is provided so as to extend the region in which the fluid is constrained before exiting the core components in use. The impact head 16 of the apparatus is configured so as to be movable relative to the proximal end of the conduit 24 and thus defines an annular gap 20.

As indicated by the arrow in figure 1 the impact head 16 is movable towards the proximal end of the conduit 24 by a mechanism, such as a screw adjustment, for carrying out gross changes in position of the impact head and hence the resulting gap which in operation is maintained in the range between 500pm and lpm. The apparatus of the present invention provides a pneumatic pressure in the same direction as the arrow, however, the movement of the head is restricted so as to maintain a minimum gap, such as by use of an end stop. In use of the apparatus, as shown in figure 2 the impact head 16 with optional impact face 18 is capable of adjusting its position as indicated by the doubleheaded arrow. In use, this adjustment is governed, by the pressure exerted by incoming suspension of bulk material which is being delaminated at the entrance to fluid conduit at a point 14 distal from the impact head, (termed a backpressure) as opposed by pressure exerted from the pneumatic pressure. Hence, as the backpressure increases the impact head will move away from the proximal end of the conduit 24 so as to increase the annular gap 20 and so clear any blockage. Similarly, once the blockage has cleared then the backpressure will, for a given incoming liquid pressure decrease as the hindrance to flow of the liquid through the device is reduced and the impact head will again move, this time so as to reduce the gap. The maximum retreat of the impact head due to backpressure may be limited by an end stop and, as mentioned the maximum advance of the impact head will also be limited by an end stop. The preferred allowable variation in movement of the impact head by means of the above mechanism, such as mediated by a pneumatic link is preferably in the range 1 to lOOpm so the blockages are cleared, with 1 to lOpm being sufficient to stop blockage build up in many instances.

In figure 3 the proximal end of the conduit 242 has an internally bevelled face such that in use fluid being transferred from the volume of the conduit 12 through the core components accelerates in the annulus (which is now frusto conical) until a pinch point is arrived at giving maximal shear.

In figure 4 the proximal end of the conduit 24 does not abut the impact head surround and provides an outer annulus region 204 in which turbulent flow may occur for improved processing. The outer annulus region 204 is presented in figure 3 in conjunction with the internally bevelled face but figure 3 may be provided without region 204.

Referring to figure 5 a processing system of the present invention comprises core components 10 as previously described. The system is configured so that raw material is provided in vessel 110 and is pumped through high pressure pump 112 into the conduit 12/32 into the core components 10 and in particular the impact head 16 before exiting to optional pressure drop valve 124 so as to provide backpressure to the core components for improved processing. The system is further configured so that fluid then passes through directional control valve 114 either as finished product to product vessel 116 or is recirculated through chiller 118 before entering high pressure pump 112 for optional recirculation.

Claims

Claims,

1 An apparatus for the production of graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of a bulk laminar material, such as graphite; the apparatus comprising:

a main pump (112) suitable for pumping a fluid, the fluid being a suspension of solid particles of the bulk laminar material, at a pressure of greater than IMPa, towards and in fluid communication with;

core components (10), the core components comprising:

an impact head (16) having an impact face perpendicular or predominantly perpendicular to said principal axis; the impact head and the conduit being arranged so that a variable, preferably annular, gap (20) of between 500pm and lpm results between an end of the conduit proximate to the impact head and the impact head wherein the gap forms a continuous region surrounding the end of the conduit and being substantially coplanar with the impact head; and an impact head surround (26) which extends the region in which the fluid is constrained before exiting the core components wherein, the impact head (16) of the apparatus is configured so as to be movable along the principal axis relative to the proximal end of the conduit (24) so as to vary the gap (20) and wherein that variation is mediated by means of a pneumatic pressure directly or indirectly in opposition to force applied to the impact head along the principle axis by, in use, the pressure applied by the pumped fluid.

2 The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pressure drop valve (124) downstream of the impact head so as to, in use, maintain a secondary backpressure after the impact head.

3 The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the arrangement between the impact head face and the principal axis is 1° or less from perpendicular.

4 The apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the impact head (16) of the apparatus is freely rotatable about the principal axis.

5 The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the impact head (16) of the apparatus is configured to be rotatable about the principal axis as constrained by a mechanism.

6 The apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the proximal end of the conduit (242) has an internally bevelled face such that the annular gap is frusto conical, whereby in use fluid being transferred from the volume of the conduit (12) through the core components accelerates in until a minimum width of the annular gap is arrived at for giving maximal shear.

7 The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the width of the annular gap is between 500pm and 200pm at its widest point, and between 200pm and lpm at its narrowest point.

8 The apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the proximal end of the conduit (24) does not abut the impact head surround and provides an outer annulus region (204).

9 The apparatus of any preceding claim further comprising a cooler (118) in fluid communication with said fluid conduit and said main pump, such that the suspension to be processed will pass through the cooler and out to the main pump before passing through the core components (10), the cooler being configured to reduce the temperature of said fluid.

10 The apparatus of Claim 9, further comprising a second, low-pressure, pump in fluid communication with an inlet to the cooler and the outlet of the cooler being in fluid communication with the main pump such that the suspension is first drawn into the second pump, passes through the cooler and out to the main pump before passing through the core components (10).

11 The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the impact face (18) of the impact head (16) comprises material selected from the group tungsten carbide, zirconia, silicon nitride, alumina silicon carbide, boron nitride and diamond.

12 The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the impact face (18) of the impact head (16) comprises diamond.

13 A method for exfoliation of laminar materials to produce atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of bulk material; the method comprises the steps of: providing the apparatus described in Claim 1 and; passing through the apparatus a suspension of laminar material in a liquid.

14 The apparatus or method of any preceding claim, wherein the fluid that exits the core components is recycled back to the inlet of the main pump optionally via the cooler of claim 9 and/or the second pump of claim 10.

15 The apparatus or method of any preceding claim, wherein the temperature of the fluid is maintained in the range 30°C to 80°C

16 The method or apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the fluid is impacted upon the impact head at a pressure in the range lOMPa to 150MPa.

17 The method or apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the fluid is impacted upon the impact head at a pressure in the range 50MPa to 70MPa.

18 The method or apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the fluid is impacted upon the impact head at a flow rate of greater than 1000 l/hr.

19 The method or apparatus of any preceding claim where the particles are in the size range 3pm to 50pm.

20 The method or apparatus of any preceding claim wherein the laminar material loading in the liquid phase is in the range up to 500 grams per litre (g/l).

21 The use of the apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12 for the production of graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of a bulk laminar material.

22 The use of the apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12 for the production of graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials wherein the solid particles are particles of graphite, hexagonal boron nitride or molybdenum disulphide.

23 The use of the apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12 for the production of graphene from an aqueous suspension of graphite.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1617392.4