Direct Growth of Monolayer Graphene Wafers on Industrializable Cu (111) Substrate

High-quality graphene has attracted great attention because of its unique properties and potential applications in electronics, photonics, and mechanics. Chemical vapor deposition has emerged as a highly promising technique for the production of state-of-the-art graphene on Cu substrates. Single-crystal Cu (111) is considered as an optimal substrate for graphene growth, as it exhibits hexagonal symmetry and minimum lattice mismatch with graphene. In this study, we fabricate an industrializable single-crystal Cu (111) wafer using a modified directional solidification method combined with electric discharge wire cutting technology and electrochemical polishing technology. This approach is distinct from the current mainstream methods for preparing Cu (111) foil. Notably, the resulting Cu (111) wafer can be directly used as a substrate for the growth of monolayer graphene. In all probability, this work presents a strategy for the industrial-scale production of Cu (111) wafers and the synthesis of monolayer graphene, thereby offering potential advancement in the scalable manufacturing of high-quality graphene materials.