Graphene Grown with Plasma-Enhanced Process and Its Applications in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Recently, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was widely employed to synthesize single- or few-layer large-scale graphene sheets on diverse substrates using either a gaseous or solid carbon source. The utilization of reactive plasmas accelerates the growth of graphene and enables it to grow at reduced temperatures as compared to conventional thermal chemical vapor deposition processes. In addition, the existence of reactive plasmas enhances the heteroatomic doping into graphene sheets. This chapter reviews the preparations, characterizations, and applications of the graphene films grown using PECVD. Since this technique is still in its infant stage, there is still a general absence of understanding of the growth process, the function of plasma itself, and the reorganization of pivotal species responsible for graphene growth. We aim at the growth mechanism and at understanding the influence of the experimental parameters on the quality of graphene films as well as their applications in lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, facile approaches (ex situ and in situ) to incorporate heteroatoms into graphene by plasma treatment have also been introduced. © 2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.