Graphene-Based Advanced Materials: Properties and Their Key Applications

Abstract

Since the last 500 years, science is becoming more and more dominant in our civilization and continuously making the life of human beings more convenient. Along with the numerous fundamental discoveries and innovations, twenty-first century will be evoked as technological achievements for a long time. Among the many outstanding scientific achievements, the introduction of graphene can be considered as one of the most important breakthroughs for this century. This single-atom thin 2D carbon nanomaterial is the foundation of all graphitic structures. Owing to its amazing physical and chemical properties, graphene has found applications in many scientific and technological fields, from medical science to aerospace engineering. However, scientists of the various disciplines are working hard individually and in collaborations around the globe to utilize and explore application potentials of the graphene and its derivatives (graphene oxide, graphene quantum dot, graphene nanoribbon, functionalized graphene etc.). In this chapter, some novel discoveries and innovations closely related to the graphene-based advanced nanomaterials for the real-time applications have been reviewed in detail, especially in contest of high-performance polymer blends, nanocomposites for catalysis, water splitting and 3D printings. In addition, a brief outline for the fabrication of graphene-based polymer blends and nanocomposites has also been discussed with appropriate citations for the further reading.