A simple method to produce almost perfect graphene on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

TL;DR

This paper presents a straightforward stepwise method combining ozone exposure and heat to produce near-perfect graphene on pyrolytic graphite by effectively removing surface defects and contaminants.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel, simple process to generate high-quality graphene from pyrolytic graphite using ozone and heat, with detailed spectroscopic analysis.

Findings

Defect removal from graphite surface achieved

Graphene-like surface with minimal oxygen, hydrogen, and sp3 carbon

Mechanism of surface modification proposed

Abstract

A simple and effective stepwise-method has been developed to remove defects from the top graphene layers of highly orientated pyrolytic graphite. Using a combination of ozone exposure and moderately high temperature we have shown that a defect-rich graphite surface can be modified to generate a graphene-like surface containing a negligible amount of oxygen, hydrogen and sp3 carbon. We report definitive x-ray photoelectron and x-ray absorption spectroscopy analysis after each stage of the process, suggest a mechanism by which the modification occurs and propose it as a route towards the preparation or manipulation of pristine graphene samples.