AUTHOR=Zehra Tashfeen , Syari’ati Ali , Ivashenko Oleksii , Bignardi Luca , Van Dorp Willem F. , De Hosson Jeff T. M. , Rudolf Petra 

TITLE=Graphene growth from photo-polymerized bi-phenylthiol self-assembled monolayers

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nanotechnology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nanotechnology/articles/10.3389/fnano.2024.1366542

DOI=10.3389/fnano.2024.1366542

ISSN=2673-3013

ABSTRACT=<p>We present an enhanced methodology for the synthesis of graphene, from photo-polymerized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of 1,1ʹ-biphenyl-4-thiol on both electropolished and oxidized copper substrates. The SAMs were subjected to a two-step process involving light-induced polymerization followed by annealing in a vacuum furnace to yield the two-dimensional solid. Comprehensive characterization using contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, as well as scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy, provided conclusive evidence of growth of single-layer graphene. Notably, our findings revealed superior quality graphene on oxidized copper substrates compared to their electropolished counterparts, highlighting the impact of substrate choice on the quality of the resultant material.</p>