Water Stuff & Sun are developing a hydrogen battery based on a technology called SFEER’s. The SFEER’s are spherical high-pressure gas storage containers that are the size of a tennis ball. They consist of a carbon fiber-shell that is lined on the inside with a polymer called PA6. The aim of this literature review is to present suitable materials that can be utilized as a coating on the PA6 liner in the SFEER’s to minimize the hydrogen permeability. The metallic coatings that were investigated are compounds based on chromium, boron, alu- minum and titanium. The non-metallic coatings that were investigated are lamellar inorganic components (LIC) in combination with PA6 and modified graphene oxide (GO). The coating methods that were investigated are some different PVD and CVD methods (sputter deposition, plasma enhanced CVD, ALD), electrodeposition and cold spray. The lowest permeability out of all the coatings was observed for alumina, Al2O3. Titanium nitride, TiN, was also found to have very low permeability. Since these two coatings had the lowest permeabilities they were further compared considering other factors. This resulted in alumina being chosen as the final recommendation for coating the SFEER’s. A comparison was also made to find the most suitable coating method for alumina. Cold spray was found to be very promising but if it can not be used the PVD and CVD methods are other potential candidates.

Systeme aus konjugierten Molekülen und Graphenen bergen hohes Potential für Anwendungen. Die Untersuchung ihrer Wechselwirkungsmechanismen ist wichtig für die Entwicklung neuer Anwendungen und Fokus dieser Arbeit: Optische Mikroskopie, Spektroskopie und Rasterkraftmikroskopie werden komplementär verwendet, um die optischen und strukturellen Eigenschaften solcher Systeme zu erforschen. Insbesondere werden (i) die Permeationsbarriere-Eigenschaften von Graphen in-situ auf einem halbleitenden Polymerfilm quantifiziert. Weiterhin werden (ii) die Fluoreszenz- und (iii) Raman-Emission von konjugierten Molekülen in der Nähe von Graphen untersucht und die entsprechenden Kopplungsmechanismen diskutiert. (i) Graphene zeigen sich als effizienter Schutz des empfindlichen Polymers [Poly(3-hexylthiophen)] vor Degeneration durch Sauerstoff und Wasser aus der Umgebungsluft. Dies legt nahe, dass Graphene nicht nur als transparente Elektrode, sondern gleichzeitig als Barriereschicht in künftigen optoelektronischen Bauelementen dienen können. (ii) Es wird gezeigt, dass die bekannten optischen Eigenschaften von Graphen die Existenz stark lokalisierter Graphen-Plasmonen im Sichtbaren implizieren. Durch Verwendung von nanoskaligen Emittern [Rhodamin 6G (R6G)], welche die für effiziente Anregung von Graphen-Plasmonen im optischen Frequenzbereich notwendigen großen Wellenvektor bereitstellen, wird Graphen-Plasmonen-induzierte (GPI) Fluoreszenz-Anregungsverstärkung von nahezu 3 Größenordnungen nachgewiesen. Demnach ist Graphen für plasmonische Bauelemente im Sichtbaren interessant. (iii) Außerdem wird GPI Verstärkung des Raman-Querschnittes von R6G um 1 Größenordnung nachgewiesen. Zukünftige Entwicklung von Antennen für zusätzliche direkte Anregung von Graphen-Plasmonen aus dem Fernfeld macht Graphen vielversprechend für leistungsfähige oberflächenverstärkte Raman-Spektroskopie. Zusammenfassend wurden neue und anwendungsrelevante Einblicke in die analysierten Systeme gewonnen. / Systems of conjugated molecules and graphenes bear high application potential. The investigation of their interaction mechanisms is important for design of new applications and the focus of this thesis: Optical microscopy, spectroscopy and scanning force microscopy are complementarily used to explore the optical and structural properties of such systems. In particular (i) the permeation barrier properties of graphene are quantified in-situ on a semiconducting polymer film. Furthermore (ii) the fluorescence and (iii) Raman emission of conjugated molecules in proximity to graphene are investigated and the respective coupling mechanisms are discussed. (i) Graphenes are found to efficiently protect the sensitive polymer [poly(3-hexylthiophene)] from degradation by oxygen and water from the ambient atmosphere. This suggests that graphenes can not only serve as transparent electrode, but simultaneously as a barrier layer in future optoelectronic devices. (ii) It is shown that the known optical properties of graphene imply the existence of strongly localized graphene plasmons in the visible. Using nanoscale emitters [rhodamine 6G (R6G)] that provide the high wave vectors necessary to efficiently excite graphene plasmons at optical frequencies, graphene plasmon induced (GPI) fluorescence excitation enhancement by nearly 3 orders of magnitude is demonstrated. Graphene is thus interesting for plasmonic devices in the visible. (iii) In addition GPI enhancement of the Raman cross section of R6G by 1 order of magnitude is demonstrated. The future design of antennas for additional direct farfield excitation of graphene plasmons makes graphene promising for powerful surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. In summary new and application relevant insights were gained into the studied systems.