Local Controllable Laser Patterning of Polymers Induced by Graphene Material.

Graphene has been successfully applied to the field of polymer laser patterning. As an efficient 1064 nm near-infrared (NIR) pulsed laser absorber, only 0.005 wt % (50 ppm) of graphene prepared by mechanical exfoliation endowed polymer materials with very good NIR pulsed laser patterning. Optical microscopy observed that the generated black patterns came from the local discoloration of the polymer surface subjected to the laser irradiation, and the depth of the discolored layer was determined to be within 221-348 μm. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the polymer surface discoloration was contributed by the local carbonization of polymers caused by graphene due to its high photothermal conversion capacity. Raman depth imaging successfully detected that the generated carbon in the discolored layer was composed of amorphous carbon and complex sp/sp2-carbon compounds containing C≡C or conjugated C═C/C≡C structures. This study also provides a simple guideline to fabricate laser-patterning polymer materials based on graphene. We believe that graphene has broad application prospects in the field of polymer laser patterning. Importantly, this work opens up a valuable, feasible direction for the practical application of this new carbon material.