Catalyst-free bottom-up growth of graphene nanofeatures along with molecular templates on dielectric substrates

Abstract

Synthesis of graphene nanostructures has been investigated to provide outstanding properties for various applications. Herein, we report molecular thin film-assisted growth of graphene into nanofeatures such as nanoribbons and nanoporous sheets along with a predetermined molecular orientation on dielectric substrates without metal catalysts. A Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) method was used for the formation of the molecularly patterned SiO₂ substrates with ferric stearate layers, which acted as a template for the directional growth of the polypyrrole graphene precursor. The nanofeatures of the graphene were determined by the number of ferric stearate layers (e.g., nanoribbons from multiple layers and nanoporous sheets from a single layer). The graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) containing pyrrolic N enriched edges exhibited a p-type semiconducting behavior, whereas the nanoporous graphene sheets containing inhomogeneous pores and graphitic N enriched basal planes exhibited the typical electronic transport of nitrogen-doped graphene. Our approaches provide two central methods for graphene synthesis such as bottom-up and direct processes for the future development of graphene nanoelectronics.