Chongwu Zhou

Chemical sensors based on individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are demonstrated. Upon exposure to gaseous molecules such as NO(2) or NH(3), the electrical resistance of a semiconducting SWNT is found to dramatically increase or decrease. This serves as the basis for nanotube molecular sensors. The nanotube sensors exhibit a fast response and a substantially higher sensitivity than that of existing solid-state sensors at room temperature. Sensor reversibility is achieved by slow recovery under ambient conditions or by heating to high temperatures. The interactions between molecular species and SWNTs and the mechanisms of molecular sensing with nanotube molecular wires are investigated.

Molecules of benzene-1,4-dithiol were self-assembled onto the two facing gold electrodes of a mechanically controllable break junction to form a statically stable gold-sulfur-aryl-sulfur-gold system, allowing for direct observation of charge transport through the molecules. Current-voltage measurements at room temperature demonstrated a highly reproducible apparent gap at about 0.7 volt, and the conductance-voltage curve showed two steps in both bias directions. This study provides a quantative measure of the conductance of a junction containing a single molecule, which is a fundamental step in the emerging area of molecular-scale electronics.

Since its debut in 2004, graphene has attracted enormous interest because of its unique properties. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has emerged as an important method for the preparation and production of graphene for various applications since the method was first reported in 2008/2009. In this Account, we review graphene CVD on various metal substrates with an emphasis on Ni and Cu. In addition, we discuss important and representative applications of graphene formed by CVD, including as flexible transparent conductors for organic photovoltaic cells and in field effect transistors. Growth on polycrystalline Ni films leads to both monolayer and few-layer graphene with multiple layers because of the grain boundaries on Ni films. We can greatly increase the percentage of monolayer graphene by using single-crystalline Ni(111) substrates, which have smooth surface and no grain boundaries. Due to the extremely low solubility of carbon in Cu, Cu has emerged as an even better catalyst for the growth of monolayer graphene with a high percentage of single layers. The growth of graphene on Cu is a surface reaction. As a result, only one layer of graphene can form on a Cu surface, in contrast with Ni, where more than one layer can form through carbon segregation and precipitation. We also describe a method for transferring graphene sheets from the metal using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). CVD graphene has electronic properties that are potentially valuable in a number of applications. For example, few-layer graphene grown on Ni can function as flexible transparent conductive electrodes for organic photovoltaic cells. In addition, because we can synthesize large-grain graphene on Cu foil, such large-grain graphene has electronic properties suitable for use in field effect transistors.

We report the implementation of continuous, highly flexible, and transparent graphene films obtained by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) as transparent conductive electrodes (TCE) in organic photovoltaic cells. Graphene films were synthesized by CVD, transferred to transparent substrates, and evaluated in organic solar cell heterojunctions (TCE/poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:poly styrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/copper phthalocyanine/fullerene/bathocuproine/aluminum). Key to our success is the continuous nature of the CVD graphene films, which led to minimal surface roughness ( approximately 0.9 nm) and offered sheet resistance down to 230 Omega/sq (at 72% transparency), much lower than stacked graphene flakes at similar transparency. In addition, solar cells with CVD graphene and indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes were fabricated side-by-side on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates and were confirmed to offer comparable performance, with power conversion efficiencies (eta) of 1.18 and 1.27%, respectively. Furthermore, CVD graphene solar cells demonstrated outstanding capability to operate under bending conditions up to 138 degrees , whereas the ITO-based devices displayed cracks and irreversible failure under bending of 60 degrees . Our work indicates the great potential of CVD graphene films for flexible photovoltaic applications.