Microstructural characterization of transition metal nanoparticles deposited on monolayer graphene

Abstract

Since the discovery and development of graphene, a two-dimensional one-atom-thick carbon membrane, there has been growing interest in graphene-based composite materials due to the fascinating catalytic, electric, optical properties. Many proposed graphene devices contain metal/graphene electrical contacts or other inorganic / graphene heterostructures. Therefore, an under-standing of the fundamental properties of inorganic / graphene interfaces is of critical importance for developing graphene-based nanoelectronics or spintronics. In this dissertation, transition metal nanoparticles are deposited by thermal evaporator method on monolayer graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to investigate how interaction energy between graphene and transition metal affects the morphology and microstructure of deposited metal nanoparticles.