Javier Arguelles Badillo

Author: Javier Arguelles Badillo | Major: Mechanical Engineering

My name is Javier Arguelles Badillo, I am an international student part of the Engineering and Honors College at the University of Arkansas. I am getting a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Nanotechnology. I am currently performing research under my advisor, Dr. Xiangbo Meng. With Dr. Meng’s help I am learning how to synthesize Graphene Oxide by different methods to produce N-Doped Graphene Nanosheets with a high nitrogen content. To then use them for the making of next-gen batteries due to their better capacitive properties. This coming semester I am writing my Honor’s thesis about this topic.

Since my first semester at the University of Arkansas I knew I wanted to get a Minor in Nanotechnology, so I emailed several professors from the Engineering college, and they gave me all the information I needed to achieve my goal. To get the Nano minor I needed to conduct research with a professor related to the field, this is when I met Dr. Meng. Currently, Dr. Meng’s research focuses on synthesis of new inorganic, organic, and hybrid nanomaterials in precisely controllable modes at the atomic and molecular level, and development of high-performance energy-storage battery systems.

 This semester due to Covid restrictions we had to plan our visits to the ENRC labs more than past semesters since only a small number of people were able to be in the lab at the same time. In the beginning of the semester, I did a lot of literature research and read several research papers regarding Nitrogen-Doped Graphene. By doing so, I became familiarized with the basic concepts of the field, learned how to write and structure research papers, and more importantly learned how to search and more efficiently read research papers. Even though, this might not sound as exciting as doing hands-on work in the laboratory, it is a key first step to become a good researcher, and Dr. Meng help me realize this from the beginning.

During this semester I learned the three different methods to produce thermally reduced graphene, which are: Staudenmaier Method, Hofmann Method, and Hummers Method. An oxidative treatment of graphite using a) fuming nitric acid and H₂SO₄ in the presence of KClO₃ (Staudenmaier method) or (b) 68% nitric acid and H₂SO₄ in the presence of KClO₃ (Hofmann method) or (c) H₂SO₄ in the presence of KMnO₄ and NaNO₃ (Hummer’s method) was performed to generate graphite oxides which were consequently thermally exfoliated to thermally reduced graphene. After knowing how to produce thermally reduced graphene, the next step was to learn how to characterize it. I learned how use X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at different magnifications, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at different magnifications, wide-scan X-ray photoelectron spectra, among other methods of characterization. I also learned how to study their electrochemical properties.

In the end, I found that graphite oxide created by Hummer’s method displays the largest interlayer spacing and the highest degree of oxidation among all the materials. High C/O ratios imply low oxygen content, all three graphite oxides recorded high C/O ratios, this is evidence of a successful thermal reduction/deoxygenation of the GOs. Using cyclic voltametric measurements, I learned that graphene oxide made by Staudenmaier and Hofmann Methods exhibit similar HET rates, meanwhile graphene oxide made by Hummer’s method exhibits a much faster HET rate. When using the Staudenmaier and Hofmann methods which use KClO3 as an oxidizing agent, nitrogen content was not introduced into the graphite oxide and its consequent product, thermally reduced graphene. This is the most important finding since my research focus on N-Doped Graphene Nanosheets with a high nitrogen content.

Next semester I am going to keep learning more about N-Doped Graphene and how to synthesize it more effectively in order to achieve higher nitrogen content. I am also really interested in learning more about Lithium-ion batteries with that use combination of nickel-manganese-cobalt as a cathode (NMC). Several people that are part of the research group are working on this subject and I find it very interesting. I am going to find an application in which N-Dope Graphene with high Nitrogen content and Li-ion batteries (NMC) could meet and explore that intensively.