Graphene and Graphene-based Materials Characterization Using Raman and XPS Spectroscopies (sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific)

- Adam Bushell – Marketing Manager Surface Analysis - Thermo Fisher Scientific, The Birches, Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead, W. Sussex, RH19 1UB, UK.
"Product Manager Surface Analysis"

- Massimiliano Rocchia – Product Manager Molecular Spectroscopy - Thermo Fisher Scientific, Strada Rivoltana, 20090 Rodano (Milan), Italy
"Raman Business Development Manager"

Graphene and Graphene-based materials (for example carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide) have generated intense interest due to their impressive electrical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties, which it is hoped will lead to a new generation of graphene-based devices. In all stages of application development there is a requirement for materials characterization and analysis; from the initial research stages, through to testing of the finished devices. Most materials need to be analyzed for compositional homogeneity across the sample surface and thickness through the sample. It is rare that a single technique can achieve these testing requirements, and therefore a complementary approach involving several techniques is often required; with a view to guiding synthetic methods, material processing, and interrogating advanced composites containing these materials.
This presentation and hands-on workshop will demonstrate how Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy can be used to gain insight into graphene-based materials. The ability of these two techniques to provide complementary information on a range of material properties such as structural uniformity, film quality, degree of functionalization, and electrical properties will be presented.
Raman microscopy is an analytical technique that is well suited for the characterization of graphene. Raman microscopy is a vibrational technique that that is very sensitive to small changes in a molecule’s geometric structure and or its environment. This sensitivity allows Raman to be used as a probe for a number of properties important to a specific graphene samples. These properties include but are not limited to the determination layer thickness, the presence or absence of defects and for measuring local strain on a sample.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is ideally suited to the determination of the surface chemistry and the way in which that chemistry changes in the surface and near-surface region. The technique provides quantitative elemental and chemical information with extremely high surface specificity and is ideal for comprehensively and quantitatively characterising the elemental composition and chemical bonding states at surfaces and interfaces.

France-Spain bilateral Symposium - National and Regional policies in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology