Edge-carboxylated Carbon Nanoflakes from Nitric Acid Oxidised Arc-discharge Material

Carbon Nanoflakes (CNFs) with average diameters of about 30 nm have been prepared and isolated in bulk quantities by a single-step oxidation procedure using single-wall carbon nanotube arc-discharge material and nitric acid. The CNFs are predominately single, graphenic sheets containing a small number of internal defects. The edges are decorated with primarily carboxylic acid groups which allow facile chemical functionalisation and cross-linking of the fragments using multivalent cations.