Chemical Vapor Deposition of Carbon Nanotubes on Monolayer Graphene Substrates: Reduced Etching via Suppressed Catalytic Hydrogenation Using C2H4

摘要

In most envisioned applications, full utilization of a graphene-carbonnanotube (CNT) construct requires maintaining the integrity of the graphenelayer during the CNT growth step. In this work, we exhibit an approach towardscontrolled CNT growth atop graphene substrates where the reaction equilibriumbetween source hydrocarbon decomposition and carbon saturation into andprecipitation from the catalyst nanoparticles shifts towards CNT growth ratherthan graphene consumption. By utilizing C2H4 feedstock, we demonstrate that thelow temperature growth permissible with this gas suppresses undesirablecatalytic hydrogenation and dramatically reduces the etching of the graphenelayer to exhibit graphene-CNT hybrids with continuous, undamaged structures.