Roll‐to‐Roll Production of Graphitic Petals on Carbon Fiber Tow

Abstract

A scalable roll-to-roll process is employed to produce graphitic petals. A 1-meter sample of graphitic petals on carbon fiber tow is produced with a roll-to-roll radio-frequency plasma chemical vapor deposition method. Microscale characterization reveals increasingly graphitic carbon structures with production time. Correspondingly, macroscale characterization shows enhanced functional performance with production time: decreasing electrical resistance and increasing capacitance. Using optical emission spectroscopy, important species in the plasma are studied and used to determine the plasma gas temperature. The results demonstrate that 1) successful cost-driven production of graphitic petals is possible, 2) a plasma diagnostic technique is capable of real-time process monitoring, and 3) meaningful material characterization methods are amenable to a production setting. Finally, valuable experiential learnings are shared to inform future equipment design and process development.

Solar–Thermal Production of Graphitic Carbon and Hydrogen via Methane Decomposition

“…We attribute the long-term degradation in process efficiency to increased flow resistance in the central region due to the decreasing porosity caused by highly enlarged and coalesced microfibers (Figure ) that increase flow bypass through annular regions. We note that the issue of increased flow resistance could be readily addressed by adopting a continuous roll-to-roll process , that exploits the carbon fiber substrate’s inherent mechanical flexibility, as shown in prior work on plasma deposition . We further emphasize that, as a result of the localized heated reaction region on the carbon felt, no noticeable carbon deposition occurred on the quartz window and or on the reactor walls over the duration of testing; these issues have been common challenges in prior solar methane decomposition studies. ,, The predicted solid carbon deposition from mass conservation using MS measurements over the 120 min period was 2.32 ± 0.07 g, which compares well with the actual mass measured (2.26 ± 0.005 g) and further confirms that nearly all solid carbon is captured within the felt (see the Supporting Information).…”

A Heat Transfer Model for Graphene Deposition on Ni and Cu Foils in a Roll-to-Roll Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition System

“…The R2R plasma CVD system used here was custom-designed to deposit graphene on a variety of flexible substrates [11,14,32]. As-received nickel (201 annealed nickel, 76.2 µm (or 0.003 inch) thick and 25.4 mm (or 1.00 inch) wide purchased from All Foils Inc.) or copper (110 annealed copper, 76.2 µm (or 0.003 inch) thick and 25.4 mm (or 1.00 inch) wide purchased from Basic Copper Inc.) was placed in a top, free-moving winder, passed through a plasma region where carbon film was deposited because of the high gas temperature in the plasma, and finally collected at the bottom driving winder (Fig.…”

Direct Plasma‐Enhanced‐Chemical‐Vapor‐Deposition Syntheses of Vertically Oriented Graphene Films on Functional Insulating Substrates for Wide‐Range Applications

“…[109] By using roll-to-roll rf-PECVD apparatus, Saviers et al continuously synthesized graphene petals on 1-meter-long carbon fiber tow substrates (plasma power: 1500 W). [110] Even so, more technical improvements should be developed for achieving highly repeatable and robust synthetic procedures, automatic production with multiple lines in parallel, and real-time monitoring and diagnosis of the VG production processes.…”