Chemical Vapour Deposition of Graphene-Synthesis, Characterisation, and Applications: A Review.

Graphene as the 2D material with extraordinary properties has attracted the interest of research communities to master the synthesis of this remarkable material at a large scale without sacrificing the quality. Although Top-Down and Bottom-Up approaches produce graphene of different quality, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) stands as the most promising technique. This review details the leading CVD methods for graphene growth, including hot-wall, cold-wall and plasma-enhanced CVD. The role of process conditions and growth substrates on the nucleation and growth of graphene film are thoroughly discussed. The essential characterisation techniques in the study of CVD-grown graphene are reported, highlighting the characteristics of a sample which can be extracted from those techniques. This review also offers a brief overview of the applications to which CVD-grown graphene is well-suited, drawing particular attention to its potential in the sectors of energy and electronic devices.

The formation mechanism of hexagonal Mo2C defects in CVD graphene grown on liquid copper.

Thin Mo2C hexagonal defects precipitate in CVD graphene when Mo crucibles are engaged to hold the liquid copper substrate, while these defects disappear when W crucibles are present. These defects have been identified as the thin precipitates of Mo2C. The growth mechanism of the Mo2C defects is demonstrated through thermodynamic calculations. This can be beneficial in graphene defect engineering through the vapour phase transport of the volatile MoO3 phase.