Graphene nanomesh as highly sensitive chemiresistor gas sensor.

Graphene is a one atom thick carbon allotrope with all surface atoms that has attracted significant attention as a promising material as the conduction channel of a field-effect transistor and chemical field-effect transistor sensors. However, the zero bandgap of semimetal graphene still limits its application for these devices. In this work, ethanol-chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of a grown p-type semiconducting large-area monolayer graphene film was patterned into a nanomesh by the combination of nanosphere lithography and reactive ion etching and evaluated as a field-effect transistor and chemiresistor gas sensors. The resulting neck-width of the synthesized nanomesh was about ∼20 nm and was comprised of the gap between polystyrene (PS) spheres that was formed during the reactive ion etching (RIE) process. The neck-width and the periodicities of the graphene nanomesh (GNM) could be easily controlled depending on the duration/power of the RIE and the size of the PS nanospheres. The fabricated GNM transistor device exhibited promising electronic properties featuring a high drive current and an I(ON)/I(OFF) ratio of about 6, significantly higher than its film counterpart. Similarly, when applied as a chemiresistor gas sensor at room temperature, the graphene nanomesh sensor showed excellent sensitivity toward NO(2) and NH(3), significantly higher than their film counterparts. The ethanol-based graphene nanomesh sensors exhibited sensitivities of about 4.32%/ppm in NO(2) and 0.71%/ppm in NH(3) with limits of detection of 15 and 160 ppb, respectively. Our demonstrated studies on controlling the neck width of the nanomesh would lead to further improvement of graphene-based transistors and sensors.

Synthesis of a pillared graphene nanostructure: a counterpart of three-dimensional carbon architectures.

Graphene is a single sheet of carbon atoms with outstanding electrical and physical properties and is being exploited for applications in electronics, sensors, photovoltaics, and energy storage. A novel 3D architecture called a pillared graphene nanostructure (PGN) is a combination of two allotropes of carbon, including graphene and carbon nanotubes. A one-step chemical vapor deposition process for large-area PGN fabrication via a combination of surface catalysis and in situ vapor-liquid-solid mechanisms is described. A process by which PGN layers can be transferred onto arbitrary substrates while keeping the 3D architecture intact is also described. Single and multilayer stacked PGNs are envisioned for future ultralarge and tunable surface-area applications in hydrogen storage and supercapacitors.