Synthesis of Graphene–Magnetite Nanoparticle Composite Using Mechanical Milling and Electrochemical Exfoliation

This work describes a two-step methodology for synthesizing a magnetite nanoparticle-graphene composite. In the first step, iron metal powder was ball milled with graphite to produce a mixture that was subsequently compacted to produce a pellet. In the second step, electrochemical exfoliation of this pellet was performed to produce graphene decorated with magnetite nanoparticles. Formation of graphene was established by methods such as x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The formation of magnetite nanoparticle-graphene composite was established by transmission-electron-microscopy-based imaging and electron diffraction methods. The magnetite nanoparticles on the graphene sheet had an average size of ~12 nm and were nonuniformly distributed.