Wet-Spun\nContinuous Graphene Films

Abstract

Macroscopic\nassembled, self-standing graphene and graphene oxide\n(GO) films have been demonstrated as promising materials in many emerging\nfields, such as Li ion battery electrodes, supercapacitors, heat spreaders,\ngas separation, and water desalination. Such films were mainly available\non centimeter-scale via the time- and energy-consuming vacuum-filtration\nmethod, which seriously impedes their progress and large-scale applications.\nDue to the incompatibility between large-scale and ordered assembly\nstructures, it remains a big challenge to access large-area assembled\ngraphene thick films. Here, we report for the first time a fast wet-spinning\nassembly strategy to produce continuous GO and graphene thick films.\nA 20 m long, 5 cm wide, well-defined GO film was readily achieved\nat a speed of 1 m min^–1. The continuous, strong\nGO films were easily woven into bamboo-mat-like fabrics and scrolled\ninto highly flexible continuous fibers. The reduced graphene films\nwith high thermal and moderate electrical conductivities were directly\nused as fast-response deicing electrothermal mats. The fast yet controllable\nwet-spinning assembly approach paves the way for industrial-scale\nutilization of graphene.