PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF IRON(II) CHLORIDE GRAPHITE INTERCALATION COMPOUNDS

This material type was first discovered in 1840 by Schafhutl, who observed the formation of 'blue graphite' upon the graphite reaction with H 2 SO 4 in presence of oxidizing agents.In 1855, Brodie found that a mixture of sulfuric acid and KCl or HNO 3 produced a lamellar oxide of graphite. THE STAGING PHENOMENONThe staging is a peculiar phenomenon of these materials: the intercalant layers are equidistantly distributed.The number of graphene layers, n, sandwiced between the two intercalant layers is referred to as the stage number, and the corrisponding GICs are called stage-n.