Work

Metal Oxide Nanoparticle Growth on Graphene via Chemical Activation with Atomic Oxygen

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Chemically interfacing the inert basal plane of graphene with other materials has limited the development of graphene-based catalysts, composite materials, and devices. Here, we overcome this limitation by chemically activating epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) using atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen produces epoxide groups on graphene, which act as reactive nucleation sites for zinc oxide nanoparticle growth using the atomic layer deposition precursor diethyl zinc. In particular, exposure of epoxidized graphene to diethyl zinc abstracts oxygen, creating mobile species that diffuse on the surface to form metal oxide clusters. This mechanism is corroborated with a combination of scanning probe microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory and can likely be generalized to a wide variety of related surface reactions on graphene.

Source: Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI: 10.1021/ja408248z

Authors: James E. Johns, Justice M. P. Alaboson, Sameer Patwardhan, Christopher R. Ryder, George C. Schatz, Mark C. Hersam

Institution: Northwestern University

Language: English

Topic: Graphene research and applications

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Awards: Postdoctoral Rheumatology Training, G474454551, Multidisciplinary Clinical and Translational Science (MCTS) Program (UL1), ARGONNE-NORTHWESTERN SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH (ANSER) CENTER -- EFRC