Zheng Bo (Zhejiang University), Prof. Shun Mao (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ), Prof. Zhao Jun Han (CSIRO), Prof. Kefa Cen (Zhejiang University), Prof. Junhong Chen (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Prof. Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov (Queensland University of Technology) published a Tutorial Review on Chemical Society Reviews (2015, Vol. 44, 2108-2121) to introduce the plasma-enabled growth of vertically-oriented graphenes and their properties that lead to emerging energy and environmental applications, ranging from energy storage, energy conversion, sensing, to green corona discharges for pollution control.
Graphene nanosheets arranged perpendicularly to the substrate surface, i.e., vertically-oriented graphenes (VGs), have many unique morphological and structural features that can lead to exciting properties. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition enables the growth of VGs on various substrates. In contrast to the conventional horizontal graphene stacks obtained by various chemical or physical routes, VGs show many unique features such as vertical orientation, non-agglomerated morphology, high surface-to-volume ratio, and exposed sharp edges, making them very promising for a variety of applications.