Single-step synthesis of graphene quantum dots by femtosecond laser ablation of graphene oxide dispersions

In the last few years, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted the attention of many research groups for their outstanding properties, which include low toxicity, chemical stability and photoluminescence. One of the challenges of GQD synthesis is finding a single-step, cheap and sustainable approach for synthesizing these promising nanomaterials. In this study, we demonstrate that femtosecond laser ablation of graphene oxide (GO) dispersions could be employed as a facile and environmentally friendly synthesis method for GQDs. With the proper control of laser ablation parameters, such as ablation time and laser power, it is possible to produce GQDs with average sizes of 2-5 nm, emitting a blue luminescence at 410 nm. We tested the feasibility of the synthesized GQDs as materials for electronic devices by aerosol-jet printing of an ink that is a mixture of water dispersion of laser synthesized GQDs and silver nanoparticle dispersion, which resulted in lower resistivity of the final printed patterns. Preliminary results showed that femtosecond laser synthesized GQDs can be mixed with silver nanoparticle dispersion to fabricate a hybrid material, which can be employed in printing electronic devices by either printing patterns that are more conductive and/or reducing costs of the ink by decreasing the concentration of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the ink.