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Large-Scale Production of Graphene Nanoribbons from Electrospun Polymers
journal contribution
posted on 2014-12-10, 00:00 authored by Nan Liu, Kwanpyo Kim, Po-Chun Hsu, Anatoliy N. Sokolov, Fung Ling Yap, Hongtao Yuan, Yanwu Xie, Hao Yan, Yi Cui, Harold Y. Hwang, Zhenan BaoGraphene
nanoribbons (GNRs) are promising building blocks for high-performance
electronics due to their high electron mobility and dimensionality-induced
bandgap. Despite many past efforts, direct synthesis of GNRs with
controlled dimensions and scalability remains challenging. Here we
report the scalable synthesis of GNRs using electrospun polymer nanofiber
templates. Palladium-incorporated poly(4-vinylphenol) nanofibers were
prepared by electrospinning with controlled diameter and orientation.
Highly graphitized GNRs as narrow as 10 nm were then synthesized from
these templates by chemical vapor deposition. A transport gap can
be observed in 30 nm-wide GNRs, enabling them to function as field-effect
transistors at room temperature. Our results represent the first success
on the scalable synthesis of highly graphitized GNRs from polymer
templates. Furthermore, the generality of this method allows various
polymers to be explored, which will lead to understanding of growth
mechanism and rational control over crystallinity, feature size and
bandgap to enable a new pathway for graphene electronics.