Jeong, Hyunhak Hwang, Wang-Taek Song, Younggul Kim, Jae-Keun Kim, Youngrok Hihath, Joshua Chung, Seungjun Lee, Takhee 2024-01-19T19:33:25Z 2024-01-19T19:33:25Z 2021-09-02 2019-07-04 2046-2069 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/119782 The demand for large-area, high-quality synthesis of graphene with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has increased for the realization of next-generation transparent and flexible optoelectronic applications. In conventional CVD processes, various synthesis parameters can strongly affect the quality of the resultant graphene. In particular, surface engineering of a copper catalyst substrate is one of the most promising pathways for achieving high-quality graphene with excellent reproducibility. For this purpose, simple wet chemical etching of a catalyst substrate without toxic fume byproducts or metal ion residues is desired. Here, we suggest a facile method for preparing a pretreated copper catalyst substrate for highly uniform, large-area CVD graphene growth. This pretreatment method involves a wet copper etchant, ammonium persulfate (APS) solution, and gentle ultrasonication (100 W), which do not produce unwanted or toxic fume byproducts during their reaction. Moreover, this approach does not leave metal ion residue on the cleaned copper substrates that serves as residual nucleation sites and leads to multilayer graphene growth. To evaluate the quality of the synthesized monolayer graphene on the cleaned copper catalyst substrates, we used various characterization techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy and sheet resistance, optical transmittance, and FET characterization. English ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY HIGH-QUALITY GROWTH CVD NUCLEATION KINETICS Highly uniform monolayer graphene synthesis via a facile pretreatment of copper catalyst substrates using an ammonium persulfate solution Article 10.1039/c9ra02689d 1 RSC ADVANCES, v.9, no.36, pp.20871 - 20878 RSC ADVANCES 9 36 20871 20878 scie scopus 000474306500042 2-s2.0-85068554489 Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Chemistry Article HIGH-QUALITY GROWTH CVD NUCLEATION KINETICS