Chemical functionalization of epitaxial graphene on SiC using tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine

► An epitaxial graphene was functionalized by attaching TCPP on the surface. ► The TCPP layer performs well as a chemically very sensitive template. ► The TCPP layer does not disturb the intrinsic physical properties of the graphene. ► A patterned Al2O3 can be easily produced by a pre-patterned TCPP on the graphene.