One‐Step Ionic‐Liquid‐Assisted Electrochemical Synthesis of Ionic‐Liquid‐Functionalized Graphene Sheets Directly from Graphite

Abstract Graphite, inexpensive and available in large quantities, unfortunately does not readily exfoliate to yield individual graphene sheets. Here a mild, one‐step electrochemical approach for the preparation of ionic‐liquid‐functionalized graphite sheets with the assistance of an ionic liquid and water is presented. These ionic‐liquid‐treated graphite sheets can be exfoliated into functionalized graphene nanosheets that can not only be individuated and homogeneously distributed into polar aprotic solvents, but also need not be further deoxidized. Different types of ionic liquids and different ratios of the ionic liquid to water can influence the properties of the graphene nanosheets. Graphene…