In this work, we present an innovative method which enables to solve fundamental limitations affecting graphene-based chemi-sensors operating under environmental conditions, namely the lack of signal saturation and the scarce recovery after the detection step. The method, which exploits the differential current instead of the current itself, is validated by applying it on different devices having an exposed area equal to 512 pm2. The analysis is performed by adopting nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as target gas in the range from 0.12 ppm to 1.5 ppm. The approach reliability is further confirmed by performing sensing tests towards NO2 with the relative humidity set at two different levels, 30% and 50%.@en

In this paper we report on gas sensors based on graphene grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition at 850 °C. Mo was used as catalyst for graphene nucleation. Resistors were directly designed on pre-patterned Mo using the transfer-free process we recently developed, thus avoiding films damage during the transfer to the target substrate. Devices operating at room temperature and relative humidity set at 50% were tested towards NO2. The sensors resulted to be highly specific towards NO2 and showed current variation up to 6%. The performances were compared with those of gas sensors based on graphene grown at 980 °C, which represents the usual growth temperature for such material. The findings show that by lowering the graphene growth temperature and consequently the energy consumptions the sensing benefits of these devices are still preserved.@en

The sp2 carbon-based allotropes have been extensively exploited for the realization of gas sensors in the recent years because of their high conductivity and large specific surface area. A study on graphene that was synthetized by means of a novel transfer-free fabrication approach and is employed as sensing material is herein presented. Multilayer graphene was deposited by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) mediated by CMOS-compatible Mo. The utilized technique takes advantage of the absence of damage or contamination of the synthesized graphene, because there is no need for the transfer onto a substrate. Moreover, a proper pre-patterning of the Mo catalyst allows one to obtain graphene films with different shapes and dimensions. The sensing properties of the material have been investigated by exposing the devices to NO2, NH3 and CO, which have been selected because they are wellknown hazardous substances. The concentration ranges have been chosen according to the conventional monitoring of these gases. The measurements have been carried out in humid N2 environment, setting the flow rate at 500 sccm, the temperature at 25 °C and the relative humidity (RH) at 50%. An increase of the conductance response has been recorded upon exposure towards NO2, whereas a decrease of the signal has been detected towards NH3. The material appears totally insensitive towards CO. Finally, the sensing selectivity has been proven by evaluating and comparing the degree of adsorption and the interaction energies for NO2 and NH3 on graphene. The direct-growth approach for the synthesis of graphene opens a promising path towards diverse applicative scenarios, including the straightforward integration in electronic devices.@en

The work herein presented investigates the behavior of graphene-based gas sensors realized by using an innovative way to prepare graphene. The sensing layer was directly grown by chemical vapor deposition on pre-patterned CMOS compatible Mo catalyst and then it was eased on the underlying SiO2 through a completely transfer-free process. Devices with different geometries were designed and tested towards NO2 and NH3 in environmental conditions, i.e. room temperature and relative humidity set at 50%. Furthermore, these gas sensors were also calibrated, resulting in the ability to detect concentrations down to 240 ppb and 17 ppm of NO2 and NH3, respectively. These results are in agreement with the best performances reported in literature for graphene-based sensors. They not only confirm the successful devices fabrication through the transfer-free approach, but also pave the route for large-scale production of MEMS/NEMS sensors.@en

In this paper we report a novel transfer-free graphene fabrication process, which does not damage the graphene layer. Uniform graphene layers on 4" silicon wafers were deposited by chemical vapor deposition using the CMOS compatible Mo catalyst. Removal of the Mo layer after graphene deposition results in a transfer-free and controlled placement of the graphene on the underlying SiO2. Moreover, pre-patterning the Mo layer allows customizable graphene geometries to be directly obtained, something that has never been achieved before. This process is extremely suitable for the large-scale fabrication of MEMS/NEMS sensors, especially those benefitting from specific properties of graphene, such as gas sensing.@en

The crystal structure of graphene flakes is expected to significantly affect their sensing properties. Here we report an experimental investigation on the crystalline structure of graphene aimed at exploring the effects on the gas sensing properties. The morphology of graphene, prepared via Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Liquid Phase Exfoliation (LPE) and Mechanical Exfoliation (ME), is inspected through Raman spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). CVD and LPE-graphene structures are found to be more defective with respect to ME-graphene. The defects are due to the jagged morphology of the films rather than originating from intrinsic disorder. The flatness of ME-graphene flakes, instead, explains the absence of defects. Chemiresistors based on the three different graphene preparation methods are subsequently exposed to NO2 in the concentration range 0.1–1.5 ppm (parts per million). The device performance is demonstrated to be strongly and unambiguously affected by the material structure: the less defective the material is, the higher the response rate is. In terms of signal variation, at 1.5 ppm, for instance, ME-graphene shows the highest value (5%) among the three materials. This study, comparing simultaneously graphene and sensors prepared via different routes, provides the first experimental evidence of the role played by the graphene level of defectiveness in the interaction with analytes. Moreover, these findings can pave the path for tailoring the sensor behavior as a function of graphene morphology.@en