Sucrose-mediated mechanical exfoliation of graphite: a green method for the large scale production of graphene and its application in catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Graphene is one of the most important carbon nanostructures with potential applications in various fields. Although a significant number of efforts have been reported, a simple and economical strategy for the large scale production of graphene is still a challenge. Herein, we report an incredibly simple and green method for the large scale production of graphene by the ball-milling of graphite with sucrose as an auxiliary milling agent, plausibly assisted by the interaction of the sucrose molecules with the graphitic surface layers by virtue of non-conventional CH/π or OH/π interactions. Upon calcination, the graphene–sucrose mixture directly yields mono- and few-layer graphene nanosheets. The graphene thus produced forms stable suspensions in various organic solvents, enabling its further processing and fabrication. It is also demonstrated that the graphene produced can be used successfully for heterogeneous catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol.