IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-58799-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Principles for fabricating moisture barrier films via stacked Janus graphene layers

Author

Listed:
  • Chaofan Zhou

    (Peking University)

  • Hongjie Gao

    (Peking University)

  • Saiyu Bu

    (Peking University)

  • Haotian Wu

    (Peking University
    Peking University
    Peking University)

  • Fan Liang

    (Peking University
    Guilin University of Electronic Technology)

  • Fangfang Li

    (Peking University
    Peking University
    Peking University)

  • Zhaoning Hu

    (Peking University
    Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Yixuan Zhao

    (Peking University
    Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Bingbing Guo

    (Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Zelong Li

    (Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Li Yin

    (Peking University)

  • Xiaokai Hu

    (Guilin University of Electronic Technology)

  • Qin Xie

    (Peking University
    Peking University
    Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Yang Su

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Zhongfan Liu

    (Peking University
    Peking University
    Beijing Graphene Institute)

  • Li Lin

    (Peking University
    Peking University
    Peking University
    Beijing Graphene Institute)

Abstract

The excellent impermeability makes graphene film an ideal candidate for thin film encapsulation technology. However, current chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene-based barrier films can not provide sufficient moisture barrier performance, suggesting a lack of understanding in mechanism that dominates water diffusion in/through graphene stacks. Herein, we fabricate large-area graphene barrier films with a record-low water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of 5 × 10−5 g/(m2·day), two orders of magnitude lower than previous works, in which two stacked Janus graphene films are intercalated by toluidine blue O (TBO) sub-monolayer: one side of graphene is decorated with fluorine- and oxygen-containing groups to allow crack-free transfer, while the other side is functionalized with hydroxyl groups to trap water. The intercalated TBO further blocks water transport due to a strong water-TBO interaction. Our work opens a route for surface/interface engineering of CVD graphene and promises its exciting future in the applications for advanced packaging.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaofan Zhou & Hongjie Gao & Saiyu Bu & Haotian Wu & Fan Liang & Fangfang Li & Zhaoning Hu & Yixuan Zhao & Bingbing Guo & Zelong Li & Li Yin & Xiaokai Hu & Qin Xie & Yang Su & Zhongfan Liu & Li Lin, 2025. "Principles for fabricating moisture barrier films via stacked Janus graphene layers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58799-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58799-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58799-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-58799-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. G. Hummer & J. C. Rasaiah & J. P. Noworyta, 2001. "Water conduction through the hydrophobic channel of a carbon nanotube," Nature, Nature, vol. 414(6860), pages 188-190, November.
    2. Fernando Vallejos-Burgos & François-Xavier Coudert & Katsumi Kaneko, 2018. "Air separation with graphene mediated by nanowindow-rim concerted motion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Qian Yang & P. Z. Sun & L. Fumagalli & Y. V. Stebunov & S. J. Haigh & Z. W. Zhou & I. V. Grigorieva & F. C. Wang & A. K. Geim, 2020. "Capillary condensation under atomic-scale confinement," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7837), pages 250-253, December.
    4. B. Radha & A. Esfandiar & F. C. Wang & A. P. Rooney & K. Gopinadhan & A. Keerthi & A. Mishchenko & A. Janardanan & P. Blake & L. Fumagalli & M. Lozada-Hidalgo & S. Garaj & S. J. Haigh & I. V. Grigorie, 2016. "Molecular transport through capillaries made with atomic-scale precision," Nature, Nature, vol. 538(7624), pages 222-225, October.
    5. Ainara Sangroniz & Jian-Bo Zhu & Xiaoyan Tang & Agustin Etxeberria & Eugene Y.-X. Chen & Haritz Sardon, 2019. "Packaging materials with desired mechanical and barrier properties and full chemical recyclability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-7, December.
    6. Yixuan Zhao & Yuqing Song & Zhaoning Hu & Wendong Wang & Zhenghua Chang & Yan Zhang & Qi Lu & Haotian Wu & Junhao Liao & Wentao Zou & Xin Gao & Kaicheng Jia & La Zhuo & Jingyi Hu & Qin Xie & Rui Zhang, 2022. "Large-area transfer of two-dimensional materials free of cracks, contamination and wrinkles via controllable conformal contact," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Jingfang Yu & Kanittika Ruengkajorn & Dana-Georgiana Crivoi & Chunping Chen & Jean-Charles Buffet & Dermot O’Hare, 2019. "High gas barrier coating using non-toxic nanosheet dispersions for flexible food packaging film," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nathan Ronceray & Massimo Spina & Vanessa Hui Yin Chou & Chwee Teck Lim & Andre K. Geim & Slaven Garaj, 2024. "Elastocapillarity-driven 2D nano-switches enable zeptoliter-scale liquid encapsulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Peifu Cheng & Francesco Fornasiero & Melinda L. Jue & Wonhee Ko & An-Ping Li & Juan Carlos Idrobo & Michael S. H. Boutilier & Piran R. Kidambi, 2022. "Differences in water and vapor transport through angstrom-scale pores in atomically thin membranes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Zhipeng Wang & Liqin Huang & Xue Dong & Tong Wu & Qi Qing & Jing Chen & Yuexiang Lu & Chao Xu, 2023. "Ion sieving in graphene oxide membrane enables efficient actinides/lanthanides separation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Cheng Chi & Gongze Liu & Meng An & Yufeng Zhang & Dongxing Song & Xin Qi & Chunyu Zhao & Zequn Wang & Yanzheng Du & Zizhen Lin & Yang Lu & He Huang & Yang Li & Chongjia Lin & Weigang Ma & Baoling Huan, 2023. "Reversible bipolar thermopower of ionic thermoelectric polymer composite for cyclic energy generation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Mian Muhammad-Ahson Aslam & Hsion-Wen Kuo & Walter Den & Muhammad Usman & Muhammad Sultan & Hadeed Ashraf, 2021. "Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) for Water and Wastewater Treatment: Preparation to Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-54, May.
    6. Xinyue Wen & Tobias Foller & Xiaoheng Jin & Tiziana Musso & Priyank Kumar & Rakesh Joshi, 2022. "Understanding water transport through graphene-based nanochannels via experimental control of slip length," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Bo Lin & Jian Jiang & Xiao Cheng Zeng & Lei Li, 2023. "Temperature-pressure phase diagram of confined monolayer water/ice at first-principles accuracy with a machine-learning force field," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Kuichang Zuo & Xiang Zhang & Xiaochuan Huang & Eliezer F. Oliveira & Hua Guo & Tianshu Zhai & Weipeng Wang & Pedro J. J. Alvarez & Menachem Elimelech & Pulickel M. Ajayan & Jun Lou & Qilin Li, 2022. "Ultrahigh resistance of hexagonal boron nitride to mineral scale formation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Ying-Ying Wang & Samuel K Lai & Conan So & Craig Schneider & Richard Cone & Justin Hanes, 2011. "Mucoadhesive Nanoparticles May Disrupt the Protective Human Mucus Barrier by Altering Its Microstructure," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(6), pages 1-7, June.
    10. Enze Wang & Zixin Xiong & Zekun Chen & Zeqin Xin & Huachun Ma & Hongtao Ren & Bolun Wang & Jing Guo & Yufei Sun & Xuewen Wang & Chenyu Li & Xiaoyan Li & Kai Liu, 2023. "Water nanolayer facilitated solitary-wave-like blisters in MoS2 thin films," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    11. Jincheng Tong & Nathan Bruyn & Adriana Alieva & Elizabeth. J. Legge & Matthew Boyes & Xiuju Song & Alvin J. Walisinghe & Andrew J. Pollard & Michael W. Anderson & Thomas Vetter & Manuel Melle-Franco &, 2024. "Crystallization of molecular layers produced under confinement onto a surface," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    12. Laigang Hu & Wenhao Wu & Min Hu & Ling Jiang & Daohui Lin & Jian Wu & Kun Yang, 2024. "Double-walled Al-based MOF with large microporous specific surface area for trace benzene adsorption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    13. Qian Zhang & Bo Gao & Ling Zhang & Xiaopeng Liu & Jixiang Cui & Yijun Cao & Hongbo Zeng & Qun Xu & Xinwei Cui & Lei Jiang, 2023. "Anomalous water molecular gating from atomic-scale graphene capillaries for precise and ultrafast molecular sieving," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Guowen Yuan & Weilin Liu & Xianlei Huang & Zihao Wan & Chao Wang & Bing Yao & Wenjie Sun & Hang Zheng & Kehan Yang & Zhenjia Zhou & Yuefeng Nie & Jie Xu & Libo Gao, 2023. "Stacking transfer of wafer-scale graphene-based van der Waals superlattices," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Zhou, Shi-Dong & Xiao, Yan-Yun & Ni, Xing-Ya & Li, Xiao-Yan & Wu, Zhi-Min & Liu, Yang & Lv, Xiao-Fang, 2024. "Kinetics studies of CO2 hydrate formation in the presence of l-methionine coupled with multi-walled carbon nanotubes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    16. Maosong Xie & Yueyang Jia & Chen Nie & Zuheng Liu & Alvin Tang & Shiquan Fan & Xiaoyao Liang & Li Jiang & Zhezhi He & Rui Yang, 2023. "Monolithic 3D integration of 2D transistors and vertical RRAMs in 1T–4R structure for high-density memory," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Guangli Liu & Bin Zhou & Jinwei Liu & Huazhang Zhao, 2020. "The Bionic Water Channel of Ultra-Short, High Affinity Carbon Nanotubes with High Water Permeability and Proton Selectivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    18. Seung-Il Kim & Ji-Yun Moon & Seok-Ki Hyeong & Soheil Ghods & Jin-Su Kim & Jun-Hui Choi & Dong Seop Park & Sukang Bae & Sung Ho Cho & Seoung-Ki Lee & Jae-Hyun Lee, 2024. "Float-stacked graphene–PMMA laminate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    19. Tianshu Chu & Ze Zhou & Pengfei Tian & Tingting Yu & Cheng Lian & Bowei Zhang & Fu-Zhen Xuan, 2024. "Nanofluidic sensing inspired by the anomalous water dynamics in electrical angstrom-scale channels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Junkai Fang & Guozhen Zhang & Marc-Antoni Goulet & Peipei Zuo & Yu Zhou & Hui Li & Jun Jiang & Michael D. Guiver & Zhengjin Yang & Tongwen Xu, 2025. "High selectivity framework polymer membranes chemically tuned towards fast anion conduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58799-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.