Synthesis of vertical nanographene network as platform for electrochemical applications *

Carbon nanowalls (CNWs) are few-layer graphenes with open boundaries, standing vertically on a substrate forming three-dimensional structure. The maze-like architecture of CNWs with large-surface-area graphene planes would be useful as electrodes for energy storage devices, electrochemical and biosensors. CNWs can be fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. From a practical point of view, structures of CNWs including spacing between adjacent nanowalls and crystallinity should be controlled according to the applications. We report the current status of the control of the CNW structures during the growth processes, together with an example of application using CNWs as a platform in the area of electrochemistry. Nanoplatform based on vertical nanographene offers great promise for providing a new class of nanostructured electrodes for electrochemical sensing, biosensing and energy conversion applications.