Investigation of commercial cut-resistant gloves claiming graphene additive content

Five commercially available cut-resistant gloves were sourced from four different worldwide manufacturers which were advertised to contain graphene. A method was developed to assess the fibers composing each glove, including dissolution of the constituent fibers using sulfuric acid or liquid paraffin at elevated temperature, to extract and analyze particle additives. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was applied to fibers and extracted particles for morphological and elemental analysis; Raman spectroscopy was applied to discern the composition of carbonaceous materials for the ultimate purpose of identifying any graphenic additives. Only one of the five tested products contained conclusive evidence of material in the graphene family, as graphene oxide was clearly presented as advertised. Two of the products, which were sourced from the same manufacturer, exhibited evidence most suggestive of graphite or amorphous carbon rather than graphene. The remaining two products exhibited signatures of amorphous carbon without evidence of graphitic or graphenic material. The four products that did not conclusively present evidence of advertised graphene also contained prolific alternative cut-resistant additives such as steel wire, glass fiber, or a silicon-based particle that elemental analysis suggests may be silicon carbide. Methods and techniques for the evaluation of products claiming graphene content are demonstrated for the purposes of improving market integrity and consumer confidence in product claims.