Growth and High-quality Synthesis of Graphene Films using CVD.BEB801 Assignment 2

Charlton Karlin Project Supervisor:n9146814 Dr. Shailesh Kumar

Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology encompasses

all technologies that operate

on a scale of less than 100

nanometers and nanomaterials

and materials that have been

made with structures less

than this tolerance.

These materials have

extraordinary properties, and

one of those materials is

Graphene.

What is Graphene? Graphene is an extraordinary

material that has a number of

excellent properties. It is

electrically and thermally

conductive, flexible,

transparent, and the

strongest material reported.

Since its discovery, graphene

has been to be applied to a

range of different fields,

including medicine and

optics.

Graphene is a single layer of

carbon atoms arranged in a

honeycomb configuration. Its

special properties come from its

structure.

Its properties are best when

graphene is synthesised at a

high-quality.

The CVD method is excellent for

high-quality graphene synthesis.

Chemical Vapour Deposition

In the CVD method, a mixture of gases are flowed through a quartz tube with a copper or nickel catalyst at high temperatures. The carbon from methane gas reacts with the catalyst. After the method is complete, a thin layer of carbon will be left on the catalyst as graphene. It can be used as desired.

Applications of Graphene

Applications for graphene include:

● Renewable energies

● Biomedical

● Environmental monitoring

● Water filtration and

desalination

Applications of Graphene

The biggest factor

preventing graphene

being used in these

applications is that it is

far too expensive to

manufacture enough

for commercial use.

Graphene is flexible and can

conduct electricity extremely

well. Due to these

properties, there is keen

interest directed at graphene

for applications in flexible

electronic devices.

If a cost effective way is

found to produce large

amounts of graphene, it would

revolutionise many

industries, including the

electronic industry.

Flexible Electronic Devices

Flexible electronic devices are

fabricated by combining different

flexible nanomaterials and layering them

to obtain desired effects.

They can be used for a wide range of

applications, such as wearable tech and

contaminant detecting/sensing.

Flexible Electronic Devices

Project Aim and ObjectivesThe aim of this project is to synthesise high-quality graphene films using CVD method and investigating

their properties for flexible electronic device applications.

Goals:

● To develop the protocols for synthesising of high-quality graphene using the CVD method in temperatures of 900-

1000oC.

● To study the morphological and structural properties of graphene films using a range of different techniques. The

techniques include micro-Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy

and the four probe method.

● Investigation of electronic properties of graphene for flexible devices.

Work to DateMultiple sets of graphene samples have been grown on copper

catalysts using the CVD method.

Quality and structure analysis of the samples is currently in progress.

The analysis techniques which have been completed are SEM and

micro-Raman spectroscopy. Training and TEM analysis will begin in

the near future.

A new technique will be used in the future to create graphene with

different electrical properties.

Porous Graphene and Electronic Investigation.Altering the structure of a graphene alters its properties.

Creating pores in graphene greatly affects the material’s electronic properties. By doing this, different configurations of graphene can be used for different components in electronics.

Changing the electronic properties in these ways is very important.

Porous Graphene and Electronic Investigation.The second part of the project will include the synthesis of porous graphene, altering graphene's electronic properties and analysing them.

Fabrication of graphene based flexible electronic devices would begin once the analysis of the properties of porous graphene is complete.

ConclusionGraphene is an extraordinary nanomaterial

with properties desired by many different

fields of technology. Its properties can be

altered by changing configuration of the

carbon atoms.

The electronic properties of graphene are of

great interest when subjected to these

structural changes. Great potential lies in

the application of electronic flexible

devices.

The second half of the project aims to

investigate these unusual properties and

fabricate flexible devices.