Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Abstract
Carbon nanosheets are a unique nanostructure that, at their thinnest configuration, approach a single freestanding graphene sheet. Temperature desorption spectroscopy (TDS) has shown that the hydrogen adsorption and incorporation during growth of the nanosheets by radio frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition are significant. A numerical peak fitting to the desorption spectra (300–1273 K) via the Polanyi-Wigner equation showed that desorption followed a second order process, presumably by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. Six peaks provide the best fit to the TDS spectra. Surface desorption activation energies were determined to be 0.59, 0.63, and 0.65 eV for the external graphite surface layers and 0.85, 1.15, and 1.73 eV for desorption and diffusion from the bulk. In contrast to TDS data from previously studied a-C:H films [Schenk et al. J. Appl. Phys. 77, 2462 (1995)], a greater amount of hydrogen bound as sp2 hybridized carbon was observed. A previous x-ray diffraction study of these films has shown a significant graphitic character with a crystallite dimension of La=10.7 nm. This result is consistent with experimental results by Raman spectroscopy that show as-grown carbon nanosheets to be crystalline as commercial graphite with a crystallite size of La=11 nm. Following TDS, Raman data indicate that the average crystallite increased in size to La=15 nm.
Journal Title
Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI
10.1063/1.2187969
Volume
124
Issue
194704
Recommended Citation
Zhao, X; Outlaw, R A.; Wang, J J.; Zhu, M Y.; Smith, Gregory D.; and Holloway, B C., Thermal desorption of hydrogen from carbon nanosheets. (2006). Journal of Chemical Physics, 124(194704).
10.1063/1.2187969