In Situ Room Temperature Electron-Beam Driven Graphene Growth from Hydrocarbon Contamination in a Transmission Electron Microscope

Mark  H Rummeli; Yumo Pan; Liang Zhao; Jing Gao; Huy  Q Ta; Ignacio  G. Martinez; Rafael  G. Mendes; Thomas Gemming; Lei Fu; Alicja Bachmatiuk; Zhongfan Liu

doi:10.3390/ma11060896

Materials (May 2018)

In Situ Room Temperature Electron-Beam Driven Graphene Growth from Hydrocarbon Contamination in a Transmission Electron Microscope

Mark H Rummeli,
Yumo Pan,
Liang Zhao,
Jing Gao,
Huy Q Ta,
Ignacio G. Martinez,
Rafael G. Mendes,
Thomas Gemming,
Lei Fu,
Alicja Bachmatiuk,
Zhongfan Liu

Affiliations

Mark H Rummeli: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Yumo Pan: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Liang Zhao: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Jing Gao: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Huy Q Ta: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Ignacio G. Martinez: IFW Dresden, D-01171 Dresden, Germany
Rafael G. Mendes: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Thomas Gemming: IFW Dresden, D-01171 Dresden, Germany
Lei Fu: College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Alicja Bachmatiuk: Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials InnovationS, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
Zhongfan Liu: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing Science and Engineering Centre for Nanocarbons, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11060896
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 6
p. 896

Abstract

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The excitement of graphene (as well as 2D materials in general) has generated numerous procedures for the fabrication of graphene. Here we present a mini-review on a rather less known, but attractive, in situ means to fabricate graphene inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). This is achieved in a conventional TEM (viz. no sophisticated specimen holders or microscopes are required) and takes advantage of inherent hydrocarbon contamination as a carbon source. Both catalyst free and single atom catalyst approaches are reviewed. An advantage of this technique is that not only can the growth process be imaged in situ, but this can also be achieved with atomic resolution. Moreover, in the future, one can anticipate such approaches enabling the growth of nano-materials with atomic precision.

Published in Materials

ISSN: 1996-1944 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering; Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Natural history (General): Microscopy; Science: Physics: Descriptive and experimental mechanics
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/

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