Skip to main content
Log in

Electrical conductivity and optical properties of thin carbon films grown from ethanol vapor

  • Published:
Inorganic Materials Aims and scope

Abstract

Transparent, ultrathin carbon films have been grown through the pyrolysis of ethanol vapor at a reduced pressure on copper substrates at temperatures from 600 to 950°C. The electrical conductivity of the films increases with deposition temperature. Depending on deposition temperature, ethanol vapor pyrolysis may follow different mechanisms and the carbon deposition process has different key features, which influence the properties of the films. In the range 600–750°C, ethanol vapor pyrolysis is a catalytic process, which results in selective growth of a thin carbon film with an optical transmittance of ∼95% only on the copper surface. At higher temperatures, carbon deposition is nonselective, and the resultant films are darker. The carbon deposition mechanism is discussed in relation to the ethanol vapor pyrolysis temperature. The present results suggest that carbon deposition from ethanol vapor is a promising approach to producing transparent, conductive carbon films.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Geim, A.K. and Novoselov, K.S., The Rise of Graphene, Nat. Mater., 2007, vol. 6, pp. 183–191.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kim, K.S., Zhao, Y., Jang, H., et al., Large-Scale Pattern Growth of Graphene Films for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes, Nature, 2009, vol. 457, pp. 706–710.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bae, S., Kim, H., Lee, Y., et al., Roll-To-Roll Production of 30-Inch Graphene Films for Transparent Electrodes, Nat. Nanotechnol., 2010, vol. 5, pp. 574–578.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Nandamuri, G., Roumimov, S., and Solanki, R., Chemical Vapor Deposition of Graphene Films, Nanotechnology, 2010, vol. 21, pp. 145 604–145 607.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Maruyama, Sh., Kojima, R., Miyauchi, Y., et al., Low-Temperature Synthesis of High-Purity Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Alcohol, Chem. Phys. Lett., 2002, vol. 360, pp. 229–234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Li, Z., Zhu, H., Wang, K., et al., Ethanol Flame Synthesis of Highly Transparent Carbon Thin Films, Carbon, 2011, vol. 49, pp. 237–241.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Miyata, Y., Kamon, K., Ohashi, K., et al., Simple Alcohol-Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Single-Layer Graphenes Using Flash Cooling, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2010, vol. 96, no. 26, pp. 263 105–263 107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Paul, R.K., Badhulika, S., Niyogi, S., et al., The Production of Oxygenated Polycrystalline Graphene by One-Step Ethanol-Chemical Vapor Deposition, Carbon, 2011 (in press).

  9. Dong, X., Wang, P., Fang, W., et al., Growth of Large-Sized Graphene Thin-Films by Liquid Precursor-Based Chemical Vapor Deposition under Atmospheric Pressure, Carbon, 2011 (in press).

  10. Red’kin, A.N., Kipin, V.A., and Malyarevich, L.V., Synthesis of Fibrous Carbon Nanomaterials from Ethanol Vapor on a Nickel Catalyst, Inorg. Mater., 2006, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 242–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Morgenstern, D.A. and Fornango, J.P., Low-Temperature Reforming of Ethanol over Copper-Plated Raney Nickel: A New Route to Sustainable Hydrogen for Transportation, Energy Fuels, 2005, vol. 19, pp. 1708–1716.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Juang, Zh.-Y., Wu, Ch.-Y., Lu, A.-Y., et al., Graphene Synthesis by Chemical Vapor Deposition and Transfer by a Roll-To-Roll Process, Carbon, 2010, vol. 48, no. 11, pp. 3169–3174.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Li, D., Muller, M.B., Gilje, S., et al., Processable Aqueous Dispersions of Graphene Nanosheets, Nat. Nanotechnol., 2008, vol. 3, pp. 101–105.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. M. Sedlovets.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © D.M. Sedlovets, A.N. Red’kin, V.I. Korepanov, O.V. Trofimov, 2012, published in Neorganicheskie Materialy, 2012, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 40–45.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sedlovets, D.M., Red’kin, A.N., Korepanov, V.I. et al. Electrical conductivity and optical properties of thin carbon films grown from ethanol vapor. Inorg Mater 48, 34–39 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168511120168

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168511120168

Keywords

Navigation