Electrospinning of Neat Graphene Nanofibers

Macroscopic assembly of graphene sheets has renovated the preparation of neat carbonaceous fibers with integrating high performance and superior functionalities, beyond the pyrolysis of conventional polymeric precursors. To date, graphene microfibers by the liquid crystalline wet-spinning method have been established. However, how to reliably prepare continuous neat graphene nanofibers remains unknown. Here, we present the electrospinning of neat graphene nanofibers enabled by modulating colossally extensional flow state of graphene oxide liquid crystals. We use polymer with mega molecular weight as transient additives to realize the colossal extensional flow and electrospinning. The neat graphene nanofibers feature high electronic quality and crystallinity and exhibit high electrical conductivity of 2.02 × 106 S/m that is to be comparable with single crystal graphite whisker. The electrospinning of graphene nanofibers was extended to prepare large-area fabric with high flexibility and superior specific electrical/thermal conductivities. The electrospinning of graphene nanofibers opens the door to nanofibers of rich two-dimensional sheets and the neat graphene nanofibers may grow to be a new species after conventional carbonaceous nanofibers and whiskers in broad functional applications.Graphic abstractElectrospinning of neat graphene nanofibers is realized by achieving the colossal extension flow of GO dispersion with the assistance of mega polymer. Neat graphene nanofibers and fabrics show good continuity, high crystallinity, excellent conductivity and thermal conductivity, having great potentials in extensive applications.