Synthesis and Characteristics of 3D Graphene

Three-dimensional (3D) graphene structures have high electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, high porosity, and large surface area, demonstrating great potential for broad applications, including sensors, absorbents, solar cells, flexible batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Their physical and chemical properties are mainly determined by the synthesis methods. Numerous fabrication methods have been successfully developed to tailor the structures and properties of 3D graphene structures. In general, the synthesis approaches can be categorized as template-assisted methods (e.g., chemical vapor deposition, template-assisted graphene oxide (GO) reduction, soft template techniques, and ice templating) and template-free methods (e.g., GO crosslinking, assembly of GO by reduction, 3D printing, and sugar blowing). In addition, 3D graphene structures can be also produced using other techniques like roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing and 3D laser-induced manufacturing. Therefore, in this chapter, the recent advances in the synthesis and characteristics of 3D graphene structures are discussed.