Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

Rouhollah Jalili; Dorna Esrafilzadeh; Seyed Hamed Aboutalebi; Ylias M. Sabri; Ahmad E. Kandjani; Suresh K. Bhargava; Enrico Della Gaspera; Thomas R. Gengenbach; Ashley Walker; Yunfeng Chao; Caiyun Wang; Hossein Alimadadi; David R.G. Mitchell; David L. Officer; Douglas R. MacFarlane; Gordon G. Wallace

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07396-3

Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

Rouhollah Jalili, Dorna Esrafilzadeh, Seyed Hamed Aboutalebi, Ylias M. Sabri, Ahmad E. Kandjani, Suresh K. Bhargava, Enrico Della Gaspera, Thomas R. Gengenbach, Ashley Walker, Yunfeng Chao, Caiyun Wang, Hossein Alimadadi, David R.G. Mitchell, David L. Officer, Douglas R. MacFarlane, Gordon G. Wallace

School of Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Silicon-based impurities are ubiquitous in natural graphite. However, their role as a contaminant in exfoliated graphene and their influence on devices have been overlooked. Herein atomic resolution microscopy is used to highlight the existence of silicon-based contamination on various solution-processed graphene. We found these impurities are extremely persistent and thus utilising high purity graphite as a precursor is the only route to produce silicon-free graphene. These impurities are found to hamper the effective utilisation of graphene in whereby surface area is of paramount importance. When non-contaminated graphene is used to fabricate supercapacitor microelectrodes, a capacitance value closest to the predicted theoretical capacitance for graphene is obtained. We also demonstrate a versatile humidity sensor made from pure graphene oxide which achieves the highest sensitivity and the lowest limit of detection ever reported. Our findings constitute a vital milestone to achieve commercially viable and high performance graphene-based devices.

Original language	English
Article number	5070
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07396-3
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2018

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Jalili, R., Esrafilzadeh, D., Aboutalebi, S. H., Sabri, Y. M., Kandjani, A. E., Bhargava, S. K., Della Gaspera, E., Gengenbach, T. R., Walker, A., Chao, Y., Wang, C., Alimadadi, H., Mitchell, D. R. G., Officer, D. L., MacFarlane, D. R., & Wallace, G. G. (2018). Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance. Nature Communications, 9(1), Article 5070. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07396-3

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title = "Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance",

abstract = "Silicon-based impurities are ubiquitous in natural graphite. However, their role as a contaminant in exfoliated graphene and their influence on devices have been overlooked. Herein atomic resolution microscopy is used to highlight the existence of silicon-based contamination on various solution-processed graphene. We found these impurities are extremely persistent and thus utilising high purity graphite as a precursor is the only route to produce silicon-free graphene. These impurities are found to hamper the effective utilisation of graphene in whereby surface area is of paramount importance. When non-contaminated graphene is used to fabricate supercapacitor microelectrodes, a capacitance value closest to the predicted theoretical capacitance for graphene is obtained. We also demonstrate a versatile humidity sensor made from pure graphene oxide which achieves the highest sensitivity and the lowest limit of detection ever reported. Our findings constitute a vital milestone to achieve commercially viable and high performance graphene-based devices.",

author = "Rouhollah Jalili and Dorna Esrafilzadeh and Aboutalebi, {Seyed Hamed} and Sabri, {Ylias M.} and Kandjani, {Ahmad E.} and Bhargava, {Suresh K.} and {Della Gaspera}, Enrico and Gengenbach, {Thomas R.} and Ashley Walker and Yunfeng Chao and Caiyun Wang and Hossein Alimadadi and Mitchell, {David R.G.} and Officer, {David L.} and MacFarlane, {Douglas R.} and Wallace, {Gordon G.}",

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Jalili, R, Esrafilzadeh, D, Aboutalebi, SH, Sabri, YM, Kandjani, AE, Bhargava, SK, Della Gaspera, E, Gengenbach, TR, Walker, A, Chao, Y, Wang, C, Alimadadi, H, Mitchell, DRG, Officer, DL, MacFarlane, DR & Wallace, GG 2018, 'Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance', Nature Communications, vol. 9, no. 1, 5070. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07396-3

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AU - Jalili, Rouhollah

AU - Esrafilzadeh, Dorna

AU - Aboutalebi, Seyed Hamed

AU - Sabri, Ylias M.

AU - Kandjani, Ahmad E.

AU - Bhargava, Suresh K.

AU - Della Gaspera, Enrico

AU - Gengenbach, Thomas R.

AU - Walker, Ashley

AU - Chao, Yunfeng

AU - Wang, Caiyun

AU - Alimadadi, Hossein

AU - Mitchell, David R.G.

AU - Officer, David L.

AU - MacFarlane, Douglas R.

AU - Wallace, Gordon G.

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Y1 - 2018/12/1

N2 - Silicon-based impurities are ubiquitous in natural graphite. However, their role as a contaminant in exfoliated graphene and their influence on devices have been overlooked. Herein atomic resolution microscopy is used to highlight the existence of silicon-based contamination on various solution-processed graphene. We found these impurities are extremely persistent and thus utilising high purity graphite as a precursor is the only route to produce silicon-free graphene. These impurities are found to hamper the effective utilisation of graphene in whereby surface area is of paramount importance. When non-contaminated graphene is used to fabricate supercapacitor microelectrodes, a capacitance value closest to the predicted theoretical capacitance for graphene is obtained. We also demonstrate a versatile humidity sensor made from pure graphene oxide which achieves the highest sensitivity and the lowest limit of detection ever reported. Our findings constitute a vital milestone to achieve commercially viable and high performance graphene-based devices.

AB - Silicon-based impurities are ubiquitous in natural graphite. However, their role as a contaminant in exfoliated graphene and their influence on devices have been overlooked. Herein atomic resolution microscopy is used to highlight the existence of silicon-based contamination on various solution-processed graphene. We found these impurities are extremely persistent and thus utilising high purity graphite as a precursor is the only route to produce silicon-free graphene. These impurities are found to hamper the effective utilisation of graphene in whereby surface area is of paramount importance. When non-contaminated graphene is used to fabricate supercapacitor microelectrodes, a capacitance value closest to the predicted theoretical capacitance for graphene is obtained. We also demonstrate a versatile humidity sensor made from pure graphene oxide which achieves the highest sensitivity and the lowest limit of detection ever reported. Our findings constitute a vital milestone to achieve commercially viable and high performance graphene-based devices.

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Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

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Silicon as a ubiquitous contaminant in graphene derivatives with significant impact on device performance

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ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

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