Ripple-Free Graphene Sheets on Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers Provided from Unzipped Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Octanethiol (C8S, CH3(CH2)7SH) self-assembled monolayers/Au(111) were utilized as an inert surface to provide ripple-free graphene oxide layers provided from chemically unzipped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The resulting graphene oxide monolayers were characterized with atomic resolution by UHV-STM. The honeycomb structure for the graphene monolayer and "three-for-six" triangular pattern for the multi-layer graphene sheets on C8S SAMs were clearly observed without ripples by the high-resolution UHV-STM. These results provide new insight into the preparation of ripple-free graphene monolayers.