Insights into the Early Growth of Homogeneous Single-Layer Graphene over Ni–Mo Binary Substrates

Abstract

The employment of Ni–Mo films has recently been shown to yield strictly homogeneous single-layer graphene. In this study, we systematically investigate the different stages of nucleation and growth of graphene over Ni–Mo layers. The studies reveal that the Ni film breaks up and diffuses into the underlying Mo foil, forming a Ni–Mo intermetallic. Nucleation only occurs from Ni sites, and thus, the nucleation density can be controlled by the Ni film thickness. Both nucleation and growth of the graphene are shown to be susceptible to very efficient self-termination processes to the formation of molybdenum carbide, and this guarantees the formation of large area graphene that consists entirely of monolayer graphene.

Direct in situ observations of single Fe atom catalytic processes and anomalous diffusion at graphene edges

“…We prepared the synthetic single-layer graphene by chemical vapor deposition over Mo foil coated with 200 nm Ni using methane as the feedstock (25). The as-produced graphene was then coated with polymethyl methacrylate and immersed in 1 M FeCl 3 solution.…”

“…Details on the preparation and transfer method of the chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene specimens used in this work can be found elsewhere in the literature (24)(25)(26) and SI Appendix. The transferred synthetic graphene is found to occasionally have holes, which can be augmented on electron beam irradiation in a low-voltage C s aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (80 kV acceleration voltage).…”

Direct synthesis of graphene from adsorbed organic solvent molecules over copper

“…[1][2][3][4][5] To this end there is significant interest in developing fabrication routes as this is key to allow us to truly harness graphene's properties. [10][11][12][13] Graphene can also be obtained through exfoliation, either through mechanical exfoliation 1 or chemical exfoliation 14,15 which generally yields graphene oxide which can then be reduced to provide reduced graphene oxide [16][17][18][19][20] . Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in which hydrocarbons are decomposed over a substrate is perhaps the most popular route since it is a technique commonly adopted by the semiconductor industry and it is also relatively facile to set up in research laboratories.…”

Fundamentals of Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene and Emerging Applications

“…The other metal alloy such as Ni-Mo, Au-Ni, Co-Cu, etc. also can be significant to achieve control growth of graphene in a CVD process [81][82][83][84].…”