Electrochemical delamination of CVD-grown graphene film: toward the recyclable use of copper catalyst

ACS Nano. 2011 Dec 27;5(12):9927-33. doi: 10.1021/nn203700w. Epub 2011 Nov 4.

Abstract

The separation of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene from the metallic catalyst it is grown on, followed by a subsequent transfer to a dielectric substrate, is currently the adopted method for device fabrication. Most transfer techniques use a chemical etching method to dissolve the metal catalysts, thus imposing high material cost in large-scale fabrication. Here, we demonstrate a highly efficient, nondestructive electrochemical route for the delamination of CVD graphene film from metal surfaces. The electrochemically delaminated graphene films are continuous over 95% of the surface and exhibit increasingly better electronic quality after several growth cycles on the reused copper catalyst, due to the suppression of quasi-periodical nanoripples induced by copper step edges. The electrochemical delamination process affords the advantages of high efficiency, low-cost recyclability, and minimal use of etching chemicals.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalysis
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Copper / isolation & purification*
  • Electrochemistry / methods*
  • Gases / chemistry
  • Graphite / chemistry*
  • Membranes, Artificial*
  • Recycling / methods*

Substances

  • Gases
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Graphite
  • Copper