The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing graphene, with particular, but by no new exclusive, reference to the manufacture of large, continuous sheets of graphene.

Graphene is material comprised of carbon just one atom thick. Graphene is tougher than diamond, and possesses many remarkable and desirable properties. For example, graphene has high thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and a high strength to weight ratio. Graphene also exhibits remarkable optical properties. Its potential uses are many and are still being discovered. It can be used in flexible touchscreens for mobiles, super-light batteries, aerospace composite materials and medical uses. However, manufacturing methods only allow for small chips or platelets of graphene to be created. These often measure less than a few millimetres. It is evident that larger sheets of graphene will be needed to fulfil the potential applications of graphene. This is a difficult task, because two dimensional graphene is of higher energy than three dimensional structures. Additionally, phonon density of states increases with increasing physical size, which acts to force crystals into a three dimensional configuration.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a graphene sheet. providing a container containing a liquid and a volume above the liquid; supplying carbon atoms to the volume; and allowing carbon atoms to settle on the surface of the liquid and to coalesce to form the graphene sheet. The invention is not limited in terms of the size of the graphene sheet manufactured. In fact, the present invention seeks to provide a method of manufacturing large sheets of graphene, up to metres in length and/or width.

The carbon atoms may coalesce to form a plurality of graphene fragments on the surface of the liquid. The graphene fragments may be allowed to coalesce to form the graphene sheet.

The step of supplying the carbon atoms may comprise creating the carbon atoms by photolysis, by electrical discharge, decomposition, cracking or fracking. Creation of the carbon atoms by photolysis may comprise the photodissociation of a suitable precursor using electromagnetic radiation of a suitable wavelength or wavelengths. The wavelength used may be in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, or of a shorter wavelength. In principle, a multi-photon dissociation mechanism might be utilised. Creation of the carbon atoms by electrical discharge may be achieved through electrical arcing. The electrical arcing may take place between rods of carbon.

Typically, the step of supplying the carbon atoms comprises creating the carbon atoms in the container. It may be possible to create the carbon atoms outside of the container and to introduce the carbon atoms into the container. In general, this is less preferred owing to the high reactivity of carbon atoms.

The container may comprise at least one source of localised carbon atoms. The source of localised carbon atoms may be moved within the container to control the distribution of carbon atoms on the surface of the liquid. A directional source of localised carbon atoms, such as a source which produces an output beam of carbon atoms, may be used.

The carbon atoms may be created using a carbon containing precursor gas, such as a hydrocarbon gas. The hydrocarbon gas may be an alkane, such as methane or ethane. Alternatively, the carbon containing precursor gas may be a per or partially halogenated hydrocarbon. The term "gas" as used herein is understood to refer to any species in the gas phase, including vapours and sublimates.

The carbon atoms may be created using particulate graphite as a precursor.

The carbon atoms may be created using a carbohydrate precursor. A sugar precursor, such as sucrose, may be used. The sugar precursor may be decomposed to produce the carbon atoms.

The settling can be effected by one of more of gravity, condensation, interatomic forces, such as van der Waals forces, between the liquid and the carbon atoms, the presence of a gaseous atmosphere in the volume above the liquid, and control of the conditions in the container such as temperature and pressure. In general, the method is performed to control the density of carbon atoms. In general, a sufficiently low volume density of carbon atoms and a sufficiently large interatomic distance is required so that carbon atoms do not interact before reaching the surface of the liquid, and so that stacking of carbon atoms does not occur. However, in general it is also desirable to use as high a volume density of carbon atoms as possible within these constraints so that reaction rates are increased.

The liquid may be agitated to allow the carbon atoms and/or the graphene fragments to coalesce. The liquid may be agitated mechanically. Mechanical agitation can be performed with a stirrer such as a magnetic stirrer. Alternatively, the liquid may be agitated by ultrasound.

The liquid may be any suitable liquid which allows carbon atoms to settle and the graphene to float on its surface either through surface tension, repulsive forces and/or through temporary bond formation between the liquid and the carbon atoms. The liquid is held at a predetermined temperature and pressure to allow the graphene to form and to float. This enables the nascent graphene to retain its two dimensional structure, overcoming any tendency for the structure to fold up. The liquid is held in the container which can be heated and/or pressurised to ensure the correct conditions for graphene formation. The liquid may be water, an acid, a base, another polar liquid or an organic liquid such as a hydrocarbon.

The volume above the liquid may be held at a desired vacuum (dependent on the partial pressure of the liquid).

The volume above the liquid may contain a gaseous atmosphere at a desired pressure. The gaseous atmosphere may be held at a desired temperature. The gaseous atmosphere may comprise an inert gas such as a Noble gas, for example, argon or helium.

The graphene sheet is formed on the surface of the liquid which allows planar movement of the carbon atoms and/or graphene fragments. The planar movement can be random and will be at the correct temperature and pressure to allow bonds between carbon atoms to be formed. As mentioned previously, it may be desirable to agitate the surface of the liquid to increase the likelihood of the carbon atoms bonding with each other. The agitation can be effected by any suitable means such as an ultrasonic device or a swirling mechanism such as a magnetic stirrer.

The method may comprise the further step of removing the graphene sheet from the container. This can be achieved by any suitable means. The graphene sheet may be removed by firstly draining the liquid from the container and secondly collecting the graphene sheet. A liquid-porous substrate may be located within the liquid. The liquid-porous substrate may act as a support for the graphene sheet once the liquid has drained through the liquid-porous substrate. The liquid-porous substrate may be removable from the container.

Alternatively, the graphene sheet may be removed from the surface of the liquid by a device. The graphene sheet may be removed by a roller device. The graphene sheet may be rolled up onto the roller device. The device may be a skimming device. A further possibility is to evaporate the liquid and to subsequently move the graphene sheet from the container.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for manufacturing a graphene sheet comprising: a container containing a liquid and a volume above the liquid; and a carbon atom source for supplying carbon atoms to the volume so that the carbon atoms can settle on the surface of the liquid; wherein the apparatus is configured to allow the carbon atoms to coalesce to form the graphene sheet.

The apparatus may further comprise an agitator for agitating the liquid. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a graphene sheet manufactured in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features described above, or in the following description, claims and drawings.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 (a) and (b) show a first embodiment for forming a graphene sheet; Figure 2(a) and (b) show a method of separating a graphene sheet from a liquid;

Figure 3(a) and (b) show an alternative method of separating graphene from a liquid; and Figure 4(a), (b) and (c) show a second embodiment for forming a graphene sheet.

Figure 1 (a) shows a container 10 containing a liquid 12. The container 10 may be heated and/or pressurised to ensure the liquid is at the optimum temperature and pressure to allow the formation of graphene sheets. A source of carbon atoms 14 is created in the volume of the container 10 above the liquid 12. The carbon atoms may be created from a precursor which is introduced through a port 16. Carbon atoms from the source 14 settle on the surface of the liquid 12 to form liquid-carbon bonds. Subsequently, carbon-carbon bonding results in the deposition of graphene fragments 18. Carbon-carbon bonding can occur through random motion of the carbon atoms on the liquid surface and/or deliberate agitation of the liquid. Any unwanted materials 20 may sink below the surface 22 of the liquid so they are not included as part of the graphene sheet. Alternatively, the liquid may dissolve by-product species. Figure 1 (b) shows the container 10 having an agitator 24 which agitates the liquid 12 to encourage graphene formation. The agitator may be an ultrasound device or a mechanical device which causes swirling of the liquid. The graphene assembles into sheets 26. The surface of the liquid acts to retain the two dimensional structure of the graphene sheet.

Figure 2(a) shows a method of separating the graphene sheet 26 from the liquid 12. The container 10 has a drain port 28 through which the liquid 12 is drained. The container has a liquid-porous substrate 30 located within it and which is located in the liquid 12. Figure 2(b) shows the liquid being drained through the drain port 28. As the liquid level within the container drops so does the graphene sheet 26 until it comes to rest on the liquid-porous substrate 30. The liquid-porous substrate 30 can then be removed from the container 10 and the graphene sheet 26 can be removed from the liquid-porous substrate 30 by any suitable method.

Figure 3(a) shows an alternative method of removing a graphene sheet 26 from a container 10. A roller 32 is introduced into the container after the graphene sheet 26 has been formed. The roller 32 is then rotated about its central axis over the surface of the graphene sheet 26 so that the graphene sheet 26 is wrapped around the roller 32 as is shown in Figure 3(b). The roller can then be removed from the container and the graphene sheet can be removed from the roller. The roller can be supported by any suitable means to allow rotation of the roller so that it can roll over the surface of the graphene sheet 26. If the size of the graphene sheet is such that the graphene layer would be wrapped around the roller more than once, then a weakly binding substrate could be used to avoid adjacent layers of graphene binding to each other.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of manufacturing a graphene sheet using the container 10 containing liquid 12. In this embodiment, the container 10 comprises a translating source of atomic carbon which is configured to be translatable across the container 10 from a position on the left hand side as shown in Figure 4(a) to a position on the right hand side as shown in Figure 4(b). The source of the atomic carbon 42 produces carbon atoms 44 which settle onto the surface of the liquid 12. The settled carbon atoms as shown in Figure 4(a) are denoted by the numeral 40. The flow of the carbon atoms 44 from the source of the atomic carbon 42 may be to some extent directional. The movement of the source of atomic carbon 42 across the container 10 allows the production of a relatively even distribution of carbon atoms 40 on the surface of the liquid 12. The carbon atoms 40 coalesce to form a plurality of graphene fragments 18. Suitable agitation of the liquid by the agitator 24 may enhance this process. The essentially planar nature of the surface of the liquid 12 encourages the formation and retention of a two dimensional structure. The graphene fragments 18 can be regarded as discrete floating islands. Continuing agitation by an agitator 24 results in the graphene fragments 18 moving and bonding with other graphene fragments 18 to eventually form a large graphene sheet 26 on the surface of the liquid 12. The graphene sheet 26 can then be separated from the liquid 12, for example using the techniques described in relation to Figures 2 and 3.

The formation of the graphene sheet may be monitored in-situ by a suitable technique. For example, reflected high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) or an optical technique, such as reflectometry, ellipsometry, reflectance anisotropy or Raman scattering, might be used.

Variants, modifications, additions and omissions relating to the description above are possible within the ambit of the invention and will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee.