Irradiation methods for engineering of graphene related two-dimensional materials

The research community has witnessed an exceptional increase in exploring graphene related two-dimensional materials (GR2Ms) in many innovative applications and emerging technologies. However, simple, low-cost, sustainable, and eco-friendly methods to manufacture large quantities and high-quality GR2Ms still remain an unsolved challenge. To address limitations of conventional wet chemical-based exfoliation methods using graphite resources, the top-down irradiation approach has proven to be an ultrafast, effective, and environmentally friendly technology for scalable exfoliation, production, and processing of GR2Ms providing new properties for emerging applications. Significant advancements have been made for preparation of broad range of GR2Ms from graphite, such as graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide, and their doped, functionalized and modified forms over the past two decades, thanks to the availability of photon and ion irradiation techniques, such as microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, solar, x-ray, gamma, laser, and plasma. This review presents recent advances on the application of these various irradiation techniques and highlights their mechanism, differences in properties of prepared GR2Ms, and their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with other conventional methods. The review provides an insight into the irradiation strategies and their prospective applications to produce, at a large scale, low-cost, high-quality GR2Ms for practical applications in transparent electrodes, optoelectronic devices, sensors, supercapacitors, protective coatings, conductive inks, and composites.