Direct synthesis of flexible graphene glass with macroscopic uniformity enabled by copper-foam-assisted PECVD

Abstract

The direct growth of graphene on conventional soda-lime glass substrates via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is of great significance in readily producing functional graphene glass materials for a variety of applications. However, the large-scale uniformity of the thus-grown graphene films on glass can hardly be realized. In addition, there has been no report whatsoever on the direct synthesis of flexible graphene glass so far. Herein, we use a copper-foam-assisted plasma-enhanced CVD approach to harness the direct formation of flexible graphene glass materials at temperatures below the softening points of various flexible glass substrates. Benefiting from the ion bombardment shielding and the electric field dictating effects of copper foam, the as-produced graphene glass possesses favorable flexibility, good conductivity, tunable transparency, and much improved macroscopic film uniformity. Specifically, heteroatom doping (such as N-doping) into the graphene matrix can be incorporated in target areas, and 5.5-inch-sized flexible graphene glass is simply attained. Furthermore, the resulting flexible graphene glass materials readily serve as transparent conductive layers for perovskite solar cells and as active electrodes for metal-free hydrogen evolution reaction, thus shedding light on their direct applications in next-generation flexible electronic and energy devices.