Separation and electrical properties of self-organized graphene/graphite layers

Abstract

Intrinsic layered structure of graphite is the source of ongoing and expanding search of ways of obtaining low-cost and promising graphite thin layers. We report on a novel method of obtaing and seperating rubbed graphite sheets by using water soluble NaCl substrate. The electrical behavior of sheets was characterized by current-voltage measurements. An in-plane electrical anisotropy depending on rubbing direction is discovered. Optical microscopy observations combined with discovered non-linear electrical behavior revealed that friction leads to the formation of sheet makeup which contain an optically transparent lamina of self-organized few-layer graphene.