Abstract
Ultrasound-induced liquid-phase exfoliation (UILPE) is an established method to produce single- (SLG) and few-layer (FLG) graphene nanosheets starting from graphite as a precursor. In this paper we investigate the effect of the ultrasonication power in the UILPE process carried out in either N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) or ortho-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB). Our experimental results reveal that while the SLGs/FLGs concentration of the NMP dispersions is independent of the power of the ultrasonic bath during the UILPE process, in o-DCB it decreases as the ultrasonication power increases. Moreover, the ultrasonication power has a strong influence on the lateral size of the exfoliated SLGs/FLGs nanosheets in o-DCB. In particular, when UILPE is carried out at similar to 600 W, we obtain dispersions composed of graphene nanosheets with a lateral size of 180 nm, whereas at higher power (similar to 1000 W) we produce graphene nanodots (GNDs) with an average diameter of similar to 17 nm. The latter nanostructures exhibit a strong and almost excitation-independent photoluminescence emission in the UV/deep-blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum arising from the GNDs' intrinsic states and a less intense (and strongly excitation wavelength dependent) emission in the green/red region attributed to defect states. Notably, we also observe visible emission with near-infrared excitation at 850 and 900 nm, a fingerprint of the presence of up-conversion processes. Overall, our results highlight the crucial importance of the solvent choice for the UILPE process, which under controlled experimental conditions allows the fine-tuning of the morphological properties, such as lateral size and thickness, of the graphene nanosheets toward the realization of luminescent GNDs.