Planer nano-graphenes from camphor by CVD

Planer nano-graphenes from camphor by CVD

Prakash R. Somani, Savita P. Somania, and Masayoshi Umeno

Chemical Physics Letters, 430(1-3), 56-59

Let me begin by saying that this is the worst paper I've read in a long time. Let me count the ways I hate this paper:

1. Title misspelled.
2. Poor English throughout (I blame the editors, not the Japanese authors, for that).
3. Implying that using camphor in CVD instead of ethylene gas is more environmentally friendly and low cost.
4. Not citing the multitude of papers who have made flat graphenes using these methods (only mentioning the ones that have made nanotubes and buckyballs).
5. This quote: "Controlled, easy and low cost synthesis of graphene/(planer few layer graphenes) is still a challenge and not much efforts have been made in this direction", which is a complete lie.

I could go on and on, but I'm trying not to waste any more time on this paper than I already have. The authors use CVD the way others have (without citing them until the end of the paper, tangentially) but with camphor on a nickel substrate. Then they scrape their newly made layers off of the nickel and study the powder. They make a huge deal about how they get "planer" sheets of graphene, but then gripe about how they get detailed TEM data because the sheets keep folding up on each other. If everything is folded, it's not planar, jerks.

They conclude by saying that camphor naturally gives both six-membered and five-membered carbon rings and that someone should use something that only gives six membered rings. Oh, and also they can only get down to 20-layer graphene, and they don't mention everyone else's efforts using CVD that are so much better than them. Then they brag about how awesome their approach is.

Please, don't read this paper unless you plan to mock and/or retract it.



SOMANI, P., SOMANI, S., UMENO, M. (2006). Planer nano-graphenes from camphor by CVD. Chemical Physics Letters, 430(1-3), 56-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2006.06.081