Growth of graphene and graphite nanocrystals from a molten phase

Abstract

We report on the development of a new technique for the growth of graphene and graphite nanocrystals from a metal-carbon melt. The process involves dissolving carbon inside molten nickel or copper at a specified temperature and then allowing the dissolved carbon to nucleate and grow on top of the melt at a lower temperature. The morphology of graphite forming inside nickel is shown to depend on the melt composition and cooling rate. The results indicate that the graphene layers contain a wrinkled structure due to thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between the grown layers and substrate. The graphene layers, however, preserve their continuity over these wrinkles. Although the formation of wrinkles was found not to depend on the type of metal substrate, the substrate had strong effect on the quality of grown layers. The films on copper contained quite a few defects including cracks and entrapped vacancies, whereas the films grown on nickel were pristine and defects free.

Heat transfer regulation of hole defect graphene by nitrogen doping

“…With the development of highly integrated electronic devices, the size of electronic devices is more close to nanoscale [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The thermal conductivity of GNRs can reach up to 5000 W/mK at room temperature, and the good thermal conductivity and electrical properties make it an ideal material for the next generation of integrated circuits [1].…”

“…Most of GNRs manufactured in large quantities contain a certain amount of hole defects. Amini et al [2] reported a new technique for the growth of GNRs and graphite nanocrystals from a metal-carbon melt and found that the GNRs on copper contained quite a few defects including cracks and entrapped vacancies. Therefore, it is very meaningful to research GNRs defects.…”

(Invited) Graphene Heat Spreaders and Interconnects for Advanced Electronic Applications

“…The larger thickness of FLG translates to higher heat fluxes. The excitement generated by graphene's properties led to a major progress in graphene and FLG synthesis using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), metalcarbon melts and other techniques [17][18][19][20][21]. This progress, in its turn, created conditions for practical thermal applications of graphene.…”

Synthesis of curved graphene layers on metallic dendrites

“…Recently pristine large area SLG and a few layer graphene (FLG) were successfully synthesized on the surface of molten nickel by present authors [12,13]. Thus, it seems conceivable that curved graphene layers could be synthesized out of a molten metal if the final form of the substrate is domed shape.…”