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Yin R, Wang Z, Tan S, Ma C, Wang B. On-Surface Synthesis of Graphene Nanoribbons with Atomically Precise Structural Heterogeneities and On-Site Characterizations. ACS NANO 2023; 17:17610-17623. [PMID: 37666005 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c06128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are strips of graphene, with widths of a few nanometers, that are promising candidates for future applications in nanodevices and quantum information processing due to their highly tunable structure-dependent electronic, spintronic, topological, and optical properties. Implantation of periodic structural heterogeneities, such as heteroatoms, nanopores, and non-hexagonal rings, has become a powerful manner for tailoring the designer properties of GNRs. The bottom-up synthesis approach, by combining on-surface chemical reactions based on rationally designed molecular precursors and in situ tip-based microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, promotes the construction of atomically precise GNRs with periodic structural modulations. However, there are still obstacles and challenges lying on the way toward the understanding of the intrinsic structure-property relations, such as the strong screening and Fermi level pinning effect of the normally used transition metal substrates and the lack of collective tip-based techniques that can cover multi-internal degrees of freedom of the GNRs. In this Perspective, we briefly review the recent progress in the on-surface synthesis of GNRs with diverse structural heterogeneities and highlight the structure-property relations as characterized by the noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. We furthermore motivate to deliver the need for developing strategies to achieve quasi-freestanding GNRs and for exploiting multifunctional tip-based techniques to collectively probe the intrinsic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruoting Yin
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Zhengya Wang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Shijing Tan
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
- Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
| | - Chuanxu Ma
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
- Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
| | - Bing Wang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information & Quantum Physics, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
- Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
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Berdonces-Layunta A, Lawrence J, Edalatmanesh S, Castro-Esteban J, Wang T, Mohammed MSG, Colazzo L, Peña D, Jelínek P, de Oteyza DG. Chemical Stability of (3,1)-Chiral Graphene Nanoribbons. ACS NANO 2021; 15:5610-5617. [PMID: 33656868 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c00695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nanostructured graphene has been widely studied in recent years due to the tunability of its electronic properties and its associated interest for a variety of fields, such as nanoelectronics and spintronics. However, many of the graphene nanostructures of technological interest are synthesized under ultrahigh vacuum, and their limited stability as they are brought out of such an inert environment may compromise their applicability. In this study, a combination of bond-resolving scanning probe microscopy (BR-SPM), along with theoretical calculations, has been employed to study (3,1)-chiral graphene nanoribbons [(3,1)-chGNRs] that were synthesized on a Au(111) surface and then exposed to oxidizing environments. Exposure to the ambient atmosphere, along with the required annealing treatment to desorb a sufficiently large fraction of contaminants to allow for its postexposure analysis by BR-SPM, revealed a significant oxidation of the ribbons, with a dramatically disruptive effect on their electronic properties. More controlled experiments avoiding high temperatures and exposing the ribbons only to low pressures of pure oxygen show that also under these more gentle conditions the ribbons are oxidized. From these results, we obtain additional insights into the preferential reaction sites and the nature of the main defects that are caused by oxygen. We conclude that graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edge segments require forms of protection before they can be used in or transferred through ambient conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Berdonces-Layunta
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - James Lawrence
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Shayan Edalatmanesh
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 16200 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jesús Castro-Esteban
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS) and Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Tao Wang
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Mohammed S G Mohammed
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Luciano Colazzo
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Diego Peña
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS) and Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Pavel Jelínek
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 16200 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Dimas G de Oteyza
- Donostia International Physics Center, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro de Física de Materiales, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
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Ma C, Xiao Z, Lu W, Huang J, Hong K, Bernholc J, Li AP. Step edge-mediated assembly of periodic arrays of long graphene nanoribbons on Au(111). Chem Commun (Camb) 2019; 55:11848-11851. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cc05273a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Step edges on Au(111) surface are found to promote the assembly of compact polymer arrays with enhanced interchain π–π interactions, which in turn lead to periodic arrays of graphene nanoribbons with enhanced average length near step edges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuanxu Ma
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge
- USA
- The University of Tennessee
| | - Zhongcan Xiao
- Department of Physics
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
| | - Wenchang Lu
- Department of Physics
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
- Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
| | - Jingsong Huang
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge
- USA
- Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
| | - Kunlun Hong
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge
- USA
| | - J. Bernholc
- Department of Physics
- North Carolina State University
- Raleigh
- USA
- Computational Sciences and Engineering Division
| | - An-Ping Li
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Oak Ridge
- USA
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