6-inch uniform vertically-oriented graphene on soda-lime glass for photothermal applications

Vertically-oriented graphene (VG) has many advantages over flat lying graphene, including a large surface area, exposed sharp edges, and non-stacking three-dimensional geometry. Recently, VG nanosheets assembled on specific substrates have been used for applications in supersensitive gas sensors and high-performance energy storage devices. However, to realize these intriguing applications, the direct growth of high-quality VG on a functional substrate is highly desired. Herein, we report the direct synthesis of VG nanosheets on traditional soda-lime glass due to its low-cost, good transparency, and compatibility with many applications encountered in daily life. This synthesis was achieved by a direct-current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (dc-PECVD) route at 580 ℃, which is right below the softening point of the glass, and featured a scale-up size ~6 inches. Particularly, the fabricated VG nanosheets/glass hybrid materials at a transmittance range of 97%–34% exhibited excellent solarthermal performances, reflected by a 70%–130% increase in the surface temperature under simulated sunlight irradiation. We believe that this graphene glass hybrid material has great potential for use in future transparent "green-warmth" construction materials.