Observations of the electrical behaviour of catalytically grown scrolled graphene Original Research Article

Carbon nanoscrolls, made of rolled up graphene, are expected to show unique electronic properties different from those of nested multi-wall tubes. Here we report in situ TEM observations and electrical measurements of the transport and breakdown behaviour of catalytically grown, multi-turn monochiral graphene scrolls, 30–65 nm in outer diameter. Generally, the low-bias IV region proved strictly linear Ohmic behaviour, non-linear increase in conductance occurred beyond an applied voltage of ∼0.4 V. Excellent maximum conductance values up to G ∼ 63 G0 and sustainable current-carrying capacities up to J = 8.5 × 108 A/cm2 were found in the most successful samples right before electric breakdown. Inferior values are ascribed to defect-rich or semiconducting scrolls. This study emphasizes the promising nature of carbon nanoscrolls for a number of electronic device applications.