Article Title
Electrical and mechanical performance of graphene sheets exposed to oxidative environments
Authors
Mario Lanza, State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex System, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, CAPT, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Yan Wang, Beijing Aeronautical Science and Technology Research Institute, Beijing 102211, China
Teng Gao, Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Albin Bayerl, Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Valles 08193, Spain
Marc Porti, Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Valles 08193, Spain
Montserrat Nafria, Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Valles 08193, Spain
Yangbo Zhou, Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Guangyin Jing, Physics Department, Northwest University, Xian 710069, China
Yanfeng Zhang, Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Zhongfan Liu, Center for Nanochemistry (CNC), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Dapeng Yu, Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Huiling Duan, State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex System, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, CAPT, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Keywords
graphene, local oxidation, domain boundary, passivating layer
Abstract
Graphene coatings have been shown to protect the underlying material from oxidation when exposed to different media. However, the passivating properties of graphene in air at room temperature, which corresponds to the operating conditions of many electronic devices, still remain unclear. In this work, we analyze the oxidation kinetics of graphene/Cu samples in air at room temperature for long periods of time (from 1 day to 113 days) using scanning electron microscopy, conductive atomic force microscopy and Auger electron microscopy, and we compare the results with those obtained for similar samples treated in H2O2. We observe that unlike the graphene sheets exposed to H2O2, in which the accumulation of oxygen at the graphene domain boundaries evolves in a very controlled and progressive way, the local oxidation of graphene in air happens in a disordered manner. In both cases the oxide hillocks formed at the graphene domain boundaries can propagate to the domains until reaching a limiting width and height. Our results demonstrate that the local oxidation of the underlying material along the domain boundaries can dramatically decrease the roughness, conductivity, mechanical resistance and frictional characteristics of the graphene sheet, which reduces the performance of the whole device.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
Mario Lanza,Yan Wang,Teng Gao,Albin Bayerl,Marc Porti,Montserrat Nafria,Yangbo Zhou,Guangyin Jing,Yanfeng Zhang,Zhongfan Liu,Dapeng Yu,Huiling Duan, Electrical and mechanical performance of graphene sheets exposed to oxidative environments. NanoRes.2013, 6(7): 485–495
