In this NJC “Hot article” scientists in Japan have reported that homogeneous single-layer graphene can be obtained by simply annealing the carbon contaminated Cu films deposited on c-plane Al2O3 at 900 and 1000 ˚C without additional carbon supply.
The nucleation mechanism of graphene on the Cu surface has been prepared via Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). Furthermore, the authors show that graphitization of amorphous carbon during CVD is effected not only by carbon supersaturation, but it is also affected by CVD temperature and crystallographic plane of the underlying metal. Their results provide direct experimental evidence to elucidate the influencing factors of graphitization of amorphous carbon into graphene.
Exploring the nucleation and mechanism of graphene growth provide important contribution to the graphene research with respect to their further application.
Interested? Why not read the full article now!
On the nucleation of graphene by chemical vapor deposition Baoshan Hu, Hiroki Ago, Carlo M. Orofeo, Yui Ogawa and Masaharu Tsuji; New J. Chem., 2011, Advance Article; DOI: 10.1039/C1NJ20695H, Paper
Highly rated by the reviewers and the editorial office alike, this ‘Hot Article’ will be FREE to access for a period of 4 weeks.
