Structural evolution and growth mechanism of graphene domains on copper foil by ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition

The time-dependent structural evolution of graphene domains on copper foils by ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is studied in detail. The single crystalline graphene domains up to tens of micrometer are obtained, and carbon–copper (C–Cu) alloyed nanoparticles have been firstly founded out to act as intermediates which supply carbon species for the growth of graphene domains. The layer number and size can be adjustable by controlling growth time. On the basis of results, the surface adsorption combined with an epitaxial growth procedure is proposed to explain the growth of graphene on copper under the ambient pressure CVD. Our work presents a significant progress in production of graphene with controlled structure.