In-situ TEM imaging of the anisotropic etching of graphene by metal nanoparticles

Nanotechnology. 2014 Nov 21;25(46):465709. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/25/46/465709. Epub 2014 Oct 31.

Abstract

Few-layer graphene was successfully tailored with smooth edges along crystallographic directions by Joule heating-driven tungsten nanoparticles inside a transmission electron microscope. The dynamic process was monitored in real time at the atomic resolution level. These high-resolution in-situ observations show that the neighboring graphene layers joined together to form closed edges, which is in contrast to the supposed open edges formed with hydrogen passivation. The tungsten nanoparticles transformed to W₂C in the intermediate stage of etching and to WC after etching, suggesting that carbon dissolution helped the continuous action of the metal nanoparticles in the catalytic anisotropic etching reaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't