• 文献标题:   Graphene Ingestion and Regrowth on "Carbon-Starved" Metal Electrodes
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   WANG MS, CHENG Y, ZHAO LZ, GAUTAM UK, GOLBERG D
  • 作者关键词:   graphenemetal interaction, sp 2 carbon catalytic growth, carbon diffusion, metal carbide, interfacial thermochemistry, in situ tem
  • 出版物名称:   ACS NANO
  • ISSN:   1936-0851 EI 1936-086X
  • 通讯作者地址:   Xiamen Univ
  • 被引频次:   1
  • DOI:   10.1021/acsnano.7b06078
  • 出版年:   2017

▎ 摘  要

The interaction between graphene and various metals plays a central role in future carbon-based device and synthesis technologies. Herein, three different types of metal nanoelectrodes (W, Ni, Au) were employed to in situ study the graphene metal interfacial kinetic behaviors in a high-resolution transmission electron microscope. The three metals exhibit distinctly different interactions with graphene when driven by a heating current. Tungsten tips, the most carbon starved ones, can ingest a graphene sheet continuously; nickel tips, less carbon starved, typically "eat" graphene only by taking a "bite" from its edge; gold, however, is nonactive with graphene at all, even in its molten state. The ingested graphene atoms finally preciPitate as freshly formed graphitic shells encapsulating the catalytic W and Ni electrodes. Particularly, we propose a periodic extension/thickening graphene growth scenario by atomic-scale observation of this process on W electrodes, where the propagation of the underlying tungsten carbide (WC) dominates the growth dynamics. This work uncovers the complexity of carbon diffusion/segregation processes at different graphene/metal interfaces that would severely degrade the device performance and stability. Besides, it also provides a detailed and insightful understanding of the sp(2) carbon catalytic growth, which is vital in developing efficient and practical graphene synthetic routes.