High temperature step-by-step process makes graphene from ethene

By heating the ethene in stages to a temperature of

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slightly more than 700 degrees Celsius—hotter than had been attempted before - the researchers produced pure layers of graphene on a rhodium catalyst substrate. The stepwise heating and higher temperature overcame challenges seen in earlier efforts to produce graphene directly from hydrocarbon precursors.

Because of its lower cost and simplicity, the technique could open new potential applications for graphene, which has attractive physical and electronic properties. The work also provides a novel mechanism for the self-evolution of carbon cluster precursors whose diffusional coalescence results in the formation of the graphene layers.

The research, reported as the cover article in the May 4 issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, was conducted by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Technische Universität München in Germany, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In the United States, the research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-05-high-temperature-step-by-step-graphene-ethene.html#jCp