Three-dimensional assemblies of graphene have been considered as promising starting materials for many engineering, energy, and environmental applications due to its desirable mechanical properties, high specific area, and superior thermal and electrical transfer ability. However, little has been done to introduce designed shapes into scalable graphene assemblies. In this work, we show here a combination of conventional graphene growing technique-chemical vapor deposition with additive manufacturing. Such synthesis collaboration enables a hierarchically constructed porous 3D graphene foam with large surface area (994.2 m2/g), excellent conductivity (2.39 S/cm), reliable mechanical properties (E = 239.7 kPa), and tunable surface chemistry that can be used as a strain sensor, catalyst support, and solar steam generator.
Keywords: 3D printing; chemical vapor deposition; graphene foam; hierarchical design; nanoporosity.