Probing plasma fluorinated graphene via spectromicroscopyElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7cp05305c

Plasma fluorination of graphene is studied using a combination of spectroscopy and microscopy techniques, giving insight into the yield and fluorination mechanism for functionalization of supported graphene with both CF 4 and SF 6 gas precursors. Ion acceleration during fluorination is used to probe the effect on grafting functionalities. Adatom clustering, which occurs with CF 4 plasma treatment, is suppressed when higher kinetic energy is supplied to the ions. During SF 6 plasma functionalization, the sulfur atoms tend to bond to bare copper areas instead of affecting the graphene chemistry, except when the kinetic energy of the ions is restricted. Using scanning photoelectron microscopy, with a 100 nm spatial resolution, the chemical bonding environment is evaluated in the fluorinated carbon network at selected regions and the functionalization homogeneity is controlled in individual graphene flakes. The graphene fluorination using CF 4 and SF 6 plasma is investigated by combining spectroscopy and microscopy techniques.