The seeded growth of graphene

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate the seeded growth of graphene under a plasma chemical vapor deposition condition. First, we fabricate graphene nanopowders (similar to 5 nm) by ball-milling commercial multi-wall carbon nanotubes. The graphene nanoparticles were subsequently subject to a direct current plasma generated in a 100 Torr 10%CH4 - 90%H-2 gas mixture. The plasma growth enlarged, over one hour, the nuclei to graphene sheets larger than one hundred nm(2) in area. Characterization by electron and X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images provide evidence for the presence of monolayer graphene sheets.