Abstract
The aging in air inevitably results in the accumulation of airborne hydrocarbon contaminations on a graphene surface, which causes considerable difficulties in the subsequent application of graphene. Herein, we report an electron-beam-activated fluorination/defluorination cycle for achieving a long-term preservation of CVD graphene. After experiencing such cycle, the accumulation of airborne hydrocarbon on the graphene surfaces is strongly reduced, and the initial chemical status of graphene can be restored, which is confirmed by employing atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron microscopy. Our reported approach provides an efficient method for the cleaning and long-term preservation of graphene, and it is particularly useful for graphene microscopy characterizations.
Highlights
Cycle for Long-Term Preservation ofThe emergence of graphene, an atomic thick carbon layer with honeycomb lattices, has prompted many interesting observations and promising applications [1,2]
For analyzing and processing graphene on a nanoscale, the long-term endurance of graphene to the environment is of the highest importance, especially for electron beam microscopy analysis, which often requires an ultra-clean surface of graphene to achieve atomic resolution imaging [6,7,8]
Various studies have been carried out to minimize the contamination from graphene, the surfaces cannot be totally protected from unintentional contaminations, e.g., airborne hydrocarbon [9,10]
Summary
The emergence of graphene, an atomic thick carbon layer with honeycomb lattices, has prompted many interesting observations and promising applications [1,2]. For analyzing and processing graphene on a nanoscale, the long-term endurance of graphene to the environment is of the highest importance, especially for electron beam microscopy analysis, which often requires an ultra-clean surface of graphene to achieve atomic resolution imaging [6,7,8]. Albeit O2 plasma treatment is efficient to prevent the contamination of the sample by hydrocarbon, such plasma approach is highly chemically reactive and can damage graphene, even with a low power input [11].The typical method to eliminate airborne hydrocarbon is through vacuum annealing, but the resulting surface is not sufficiently clean for many surface analysis purposes [12]. The study has shown that the initial graphene status can be restored after a fluorination/defluorination cycle. Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 383 during aging by using the electron-beam-activated fluorination/defluorination cycle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is carried out to analyze the accumulation of hydrocarbon both on pristine graphene and fluorinated/defluorinated graphene. We have studied the structural evolution of graphene after the fluorination/defluorination cycle by Raman spectroscopy and gated measurements
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