The effect of surface energy on the wettability of graphene-coated copper: A comparison of different single and multilayer graphene

Abstract

The present research investigated the effect of different types of graphene layers including a slow cooling rate single-layer graphene (SSLG), a high cooling rate single-layer graphene (HSLG), and a multilayer graphene (MLG) on the wettability and surface energy of the copper substrate, which was synthesized using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Results revealed an increasing trend in surface roughness of the substrate by applying the graphene layer which is mostly due to the formation of step bunches (SBs) during the synthesis process, and the highest surface roughness is obtained for the MLG. Moreover, despite the expectations the results of surface energy indicated that applying the graphene layer in all cases has increased the surface energy. However, the lowest surface energy is related to SSLG among the coated samples. On the contrary, the wettability of the coated-samples was diminished and the lowest wettability was obtained for the SSLG.