Exfoliation of graphite by dry ball milling with cellulose

Dry ball milling of graphite with cellulose and related polysaccharides was found effective for exfoliation-dispersion of graphene-like carbon. The exfoliation behavior was found to depend strongly on the polymer species; namely, polysaccharides are much more effective than thermoplastic polymers. The compression-molded slabs from co-milled powder with cellulose and carboxymethylcellulose showed an electrical percolation threshold of 1.0 % (w/w) or lower. The carbon fraction isolated from milling with carboxymethylcellulose was water-dispersible, containing single- to few-layer graphenes. This method can provide facile and solventless graphene exfoliation and mechanical alloying with polymers.