The rate at which graphene is used in different fields of science and engineering has only increased over the past decade and shows no indication of saturating. At the same time, the most common source of high-quality graphene is through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth on copper foils with subsequent wet transfer steps that bring environmental problems and technical challenges due to the compliance of copper foils. To overcome these issues, thin copper films deposited on silicon wafers have been used, but the high temperatures required for graphene growth can cause dewetting of the copper film and consequent challenges in obtaining uniform growth. In this work, we explore sapphire as a substrate for the direct growth of graphene without any metal catalyst at conventional metal CVD temperatures. First, we found that annealing the substrate prior to growth was a crucial step to improve the quality of graphene that can be grown directly on such substrates. The graphene grown on annealed sapphire was uniformly bilayer and had some of the lowest Raman D/G ratios found in the literature. In addition, dry transfer experiments have been performed that have provided a direct measure of the adhesion energy, strength, and range of interactions at the sapphire/graphene interface. The adhesion energy of graphene to sapphire is lower than that of graphene grown on copper, but the strength of the graphene–sapphire interaction is higher. The quality of the several centimeter scale transfer was evaluated using Raman, SEM, and AFM as well as fracture mechanics concepts. Based on the evaluation of the electrical characteristics of the graphene synthesized in this work, this work has implications for several potential electronic applications.
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Direct Evidence of Graphene‐Induced Molecular Reorientation in Polymer Films
For the first time, direct evidence of graphene‐induced molecular reorientation in polymer films using polarization modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM‐IRRAS) is presented. By creating favorable electrostatic interactions, graphene–polymer interfaces can be controlled by varying polymer and solvent composition. After transfer of unmodified graphene from copper onto a polymer substrate, polymer chain rearrangement relative to the orientation at the polymer‐copper interfaces is observed using PM‐IRRAS. Transfer success is characterized using both optical transmission measurements and Raman spectroscopy to quantify the transfer fidelity, that is, graphene coverage fraction. Taken together, oxygen‐containing poly(ethylene‐
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10458019
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Materials Interfaces
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 2196-7350
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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