Microfluidization technique for graphene exfoliation: An overview and recent progress

Graphene is a 2D material and is considered the rising star of the present era. It has a hexagonal single-layer structure in which 6-membered carbon rings are attached by covalent bonds. Graphene shows many attractive and distinctive properties due to its single-layer structure like high conductivity, thermal stability, low density, and flexibility. Graphene and its derivatives are replacing traditional materials in electronics, medicines, textiles, and many construction materials for high and strong infrastructures of buildings. Graphene synthesis is done by different methods like chemical vapor deposition (CVD), epitaxial growth, pyrolysis, liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), mechanical exfoliation, and chemical synthesis. In this review, we have discussed an industrial method for graphene synthesis, i.e., microfluidization which is an LPE technique. This technique can produce graphene at a commercial level in less time and at low expense. Here, we have discussed the main components of a microfluidizer device and also different parameters and their impact on graphene concentration and thickness. Furthermore, modifications in this technique for better efficiency are discussed. In addition to all this, some recent literature and merits and demerits of this technique are also reviewed for the convenience of researchers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study undertaken to explore the microfluidization technique specifically for graphene.