Effect of ⁶⁰Coγ-Ray Irradiation on Defect Formation of Single Layered Graphene

Single-layered polycrystalline graphene, synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), was modified by ⁶⁰Coγ-ray irradiation.The effect of the γ-ray irradiation on the microstructures, electronic structures and photoelectric properties of the single-layered graphene was investigated with Raman spectroscopy.The results show that the γ-ray irradiation had a major impact on the microstructure and electronic structure.To be specific, depending on the dosage and energy, the γ-ray irradiation was responsible for the formation of quite a few disordered sp³ hybrid bonds because of the irradiation induced defects, though weakly affecting the dominance of sp² hybrid orbitals.Irradiated by γ-ray dosage of 94 krad and energy of 1.3325 MeV, the average separation of the γ-ray induced defects was estimated to be 13.04 nm, indicating that single-layered graphene has some irradiation resistance as a potential optoelectronic material for spacecraft missions.