Growth of large-area aligned pentagonal graphene domains on high-index copper surfaces

Single-crystal graphene domains grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) intrinsically tend to have a six-fold symmetry; however, several factors can influence the growth kinetics, which can in turn lead to the formation of graphene with different shapes. Here we report the growth of oriented large-area pentagonal single-crystal graphene domains on Cu foils by CVD. We found that high-index Cu planes contributed selectively to the formation of pentagonal graphene. Our results indicated that lattice steps present on the crystalline surface of the underlying Cu promoted graphene growth in the direction perpendicular to the steps and finally led to the disappearance of one of the edges forming a pentagon. In addition, hydrogen promoted the formation of pentagonal domains. This work provides new insights into the mechanism of graphene growth.