Glass-ceramics substrates for graphene growth
An insulating glass-ceramic substrate for synthesizing graphene includes discrete, crystalline, nanophase metallic regions capable of catalyzing graphene growth. The nanophase regions may be formed by thermal treatment of a glass-ceramic substrate containing the corresponding metal oxide. Single layer and double layer graphene are prepared on the modified glass-ceramic substrate in a vacuum chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process from hydrocarbon precursors. The graphene-coated glass-ceramic substrate is electrically conductive.
1. A substrate for graphene growth, comprising:
a glass-ceramic body; and
plural metallic islands disposed on a surface of the glass-ceramic body,
wherein, carbon is incorporated into the metallic islands.
2. The substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the glass-ceramic body comprises a lithium aluminosilicate glass-ceramic.
3. The substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the metallic islands comprise an elemental metal selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Cu, Pt, Au, Rd, Ru, Ir and Fe.
4. The substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the metallic islands have a lateral dimension of 50 to 500 nm.
5. The substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is electrically insulating.
6. A substrate for graphene growth, comprising:
a glass ceramic body; and
plural metallic islands disposed on a surface of the glass-ceramic body, wherein the substrate comprises a glass-ceramic honeycomb.
7. A method for forming graphene, comprising:
exposing a surface of a glass-ceramic substrate to a carbon precursor, wherein the surface comprises plural metallic islands.
8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the glass-ceramic comprises a lithium aluminosilicate.
9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the metallic islands comprise an elemental metal selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Cu, Pt, Au, Rd, Ru, Ir and Fe.
10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the metallic islands have a lateral dimension of 50 to 500 nm.
11. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the substrate is electrically insulating.
12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the carbon precursor is exposed to the surface in a reducing environment.
13. The method according to claim 7 , where the metallic islands are formed by heating the glass-ceramic substrate in a reducing environment prior to exposing the carbon precursor to the surface.
14. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the graphene comprises a monolayer of carbon.
15. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the graphene comprises a bilayer of carbon.
16. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the graphene comprises a substantially continuous layer.
17. A graphene-coated substrate comprising:
a glass-ceramic body;
plural metallic islands disposed on a surface of the glass-ceramic body; and
a graphene layer disposed over the metallic islands.
18. The graphene-coated substrate according to claim 17 , wherein the graphene comprises a monolayer of carbon.
19. The graphene-coated substrate according to claim 17 , wherein the graphene comprises a substantially continuous layer.
20. The graphene-coated substrate according to claim 17 , wherein the substrate is electrically conducting.
21. The graphene-coated substrate according to claim 17 , wherein the substrate comprises a glass-ceramic honeycomb.
22. A device comprising the graphene-coated substrate according to claim 17 .