Apparatus and method for bulk production of atomically thin 2-dimensional materials including graphene

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for the production of Graphene and similar atomic scale laminar materials by the delamination of a bulk laminar material, such as graphite; the apparatus comprising: a pump () for pumping a fluid, the fluid being a suspension of solid particles of the bulk laminar material, at a pressure of greater than 1 MPa, along a fluid conduit () and against; an impact head () having an impact face perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the trajectory of the incoming fluid, so as to form a narrow and variable gap () and wherein that variation is mediated by means of a pneumatic pressure directly or indirectly in opposition to the force applied to the impact head along the principle axis by, in use, the pressure applied by the pumped fluid. This apparatus provides a self-unblocking delamination apparatus whilst maintaining high product quality and consistency. Relatively small variation in gap size being sufficient to avoid blockage, such as occurs by the aggregation of large particles or groups of particles in the high shear gap used for delamination.