A novel method avoiding the complex transfer process is proposed to directly grow low-defect and few-layer graphene on different insulating substrates (SiO2, Al2O3, etc.) by remote catalyzation of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) using ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD). The insulating substrates with special structure are used as templates to grow wrapped graphene sheets with special shapes. Hollow graphene species are obtained by removing the substrates. The prime feature of the proposed method is using Cu NPs as catalyst rather than metal foils. The Cu NPs play an important role in the remote catalyzation during the nucleation of graphene. This method can improve the quality and relatively decrease the growth temperature of the graphene on the insulating substrates, which displays the great potential of APCVD direct growth of graphene on dielectric substrates for electronic and photovoltaic applications.

•Direct growth of graphene using remote catalyzation to avoid the transfer process•Increase of transmittance of graphene by introducing antireflection nanostructure•Composite TCFs achieve a transmittance of 95.9%, increased by 6.2% to graphene/quartz film.•A sheet resistance of 0.6 kΩ·sq− 1 is achieved, reduced by 0.65 kΩ·sq− 1.Graphene-based films have intrinsic good performances among various transparent conductive films (TCFs). Here we described a promising way to further improve the transmittance of graphene-based TCFs under the premise of good conductivity by introducing antireflection nanostructure. A SiO2 nanoporous structure dip-coated on quartz substrate acts as an antireflection layer, followed with direct growth of graphene using remote catalyzation of Cu nanoparticles by ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition to obtain the composite TCFs. Further investigations show that the composite TCFs achieve a transmittance of 95.9%, increased by 6.2% to graphene/quartz film and a sheet resistance of 0.6 kΩ·sq− 1, reduced by 0.65 kΩ·sq− 1. This method avoids transferring graphene and enhances the transmittance and conductivity of TCFs simultaneously, which has the advantages of low cost, easy operating and indicates the potential applications of composite TCFs in many photoelectric devices.Download high-res image (93KB)Download full-size image