From amorphous carbon to carbon nanobelts and vertically oriented graphene nanosheets synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Carbon materials with various structures were produced via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition by controlling substrate temperature and mixed gases in the atmosphere. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy were employed to investigate the morphology and structure of the materials. The results show that at a low substrate temperature(100 °C) in CH4:Ar(flow rate ratio was 100 cm3/min:10 cm3/min), amorphous carbon formed on Si(100) that could act as a support for the growth of carbon nanobelt and layer graphene at 800 °C. Vertically oriented multi-layer graphene nanosheets(GNs) were catalyst-free synthesized on Si and Ni foam at 800 °C in a mixture of CH4:Ar(20 cm3/min:60, 80 and 100 cm3/min). The capacitor character investigated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge indicates that for the as-synthesized GNs, the electrochemical capacitance is very small(16 F/g at current density of 16 A/g). However, having been treated in acidic solution, the GNs exhibited good capacitive behavior, with a capacitance of 166 F/g, and after 800 charge/discharge cycles at 32 A/g, the capacitance could retain about 88.4%. The enhancement of specific capacitance is attributed to the increase of specific surface area after etching treatment of them.