Water Protects Graphitic Surface from Airborne Hydrocarbon Contamination

作者:Li Zhiting; Kozbial Andrew; Nioradze Nikoloz; Parobek David; Shenoy Ganesh Jagadeesh; Salim Muhammad; Amemiya Shigeru; Li Lei; Liu Haitao
来源:ACS Nano, 2016, 10(1): 349-359.
DOI:10.1021/acsnano.5b04843

摘要

The intrinsic wettability of graphitic materials, such as graphene and graphite, can be readily obscured by airborne hydrocarbon within 5-20 min of ambient air exposure. We report a convenient method to effectively preserve a freshly prepared graphitic surface simply through a water treatment technique. This approach significantly inhibits the hydrocarbon adsorption rate by a factor of ca. 20X, thus maintaining the intrinsic wetting behavior for many hours upon air exposure. Follow-up characterization shows that a nanometer-thick ice-like water forms on the graphitic surface, which remains stabilized at room temperature for at Least 2-3 h and thus significantly decreases the adsorption of airborne hydrocarbon on the graphitic surface. This method has potential implications in minimizing hydrocarbon contamination during manufacturing, characterization, processing, and storage of graphene/graphite-based devices. As an example, we show that a water-treated graphite electrode maintains a high level of electrochemical activity in air for up to 1 day.

  • 出版日期2016-1