The influence of copper substrate temperature on the wettability of graphene coating

The influence of the parameters of a copper substrate on wettability at different temperatures was studied experimentally and theoretically. It is known that water condensation on graphene leads to a change in the electrical properties and affects graphene sensor sensitivity. To date, there are no data on the effect of temperature on the surface properties of graphene synthesized on copper. It is shown for the first time that a change in the (111), (110) and (100) crystal orientations of copper leads to different structuring of water on copper and on the graphene layer. An increase in temperature alters the density of water distribution and the pattern of water structuring. The analysis of the influence of grain boundaries on graphene synthesis is given. A change in the size of defects is shown to alter the qualitative nature of roughness for copper and graphene. Various methods of roughness processing allow explanation of the inconsistency of existing works comparing the roughness of the metal and graphene coating. The roughness measurement serves to prove the authors’ previously proposed hypothesis about the local stratification of graphene and copper due to large surface defects. The results obtained are important for the development of graphene-based sensor technologies.