Controllable growth of oriented graphene nanostructures on stainless steel using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

Graphene/stainless steel (SUS) structures have received attention as an approach to enhancing the performance of SUS in various applications, such as energy storage and electrochemical devices. Despite many studies, the synthesis of graphene nanostructures with controllable growth orientation on SUS remains challenging. The present work demonstrates the selective synthesis of monolayer to bilayer graphene and vertical graphene (i.e., carbon nanowalls) on SUS by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and also explains the associated growth mechanisms. This study indicates that the graphene nucleation density can be tuned by varying the growth temperature and CH4/H2 ratio during synthesis. It is also evident that graphene growth occurs within a mixed phase of γ-Fe and Fe3C at high temperatures, and a high carbon supply of above 900 °C triggers the transition of growth orientation from planar to vertical.