Origin of the Linear Relationship between CH2/NH/O−SWNT Reaction Energies and Sidewall Curvature: Armchair Nanotubes

Structural transformations of graphene exposed to nitrogen plasma: quantum chemical molecular dynamics simulations

Nitrogen-doped graphene (N-graphene) has been intensively studied for tailoring the electronic property of the graphene, because different nitrogen configurations influence the electronic properties of N-graphene in different ways. However, atomically precise control of the nitrogen configurations during the doping process remains a challenge in the synthesis of N-graphene. Moreover, additional structural transformations of the graphene carbon network structure as a side-effect of plasma doping are little understood and are as of yet uncontrollable. Therefore, we theoretically investigated the nitrogen doping process of graphene for a range of nitrogen atom incident kinetic energies in nonequilibrium quantum chemical molecular dynamics (QM/MD) simulations. We observed and characterized prominent configurations of N-containing graphene. In analogy to similar, earlier studies of graphene plasma hydrogenation, we observed an Eley-Rideal associative desorption mechanism during the graphene plasma nitrogenation, producing molecular nitrogen. Especially for graphitic-N (Gr-N) and Stone-Wales-defect-N (SW-N) configurations, which are frequently observed in experimental studies, we discovered two typical chemical reaction mechanisms which were well categorized by two key processes: adsorption of primary nitrogen dopant and collision with a secondary nitrogen dopant. We discussed effects of the incident nitrogen energy on the formation mechanism, and propose a method to generate of Gr-N and SW-N configurations selectively by tuning the conditions with respect to the two key formation processes.

Chiral-selective etching effects on carbon nanotube growth at edge carbon atoms

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) utilizing metal cluster nanoparticle catalysts is commonly used to synthesize carbon nanotubes (CNT), with oxygen-containing species such as water or alcohol included in the feedstock for enhanced yield. However, the etching effect of these additives on the growth mechanism has rarely been investigated, despite evidence suggesting that etching potentially affects the chirality distribution of product CNTs. We used quantum chemical methods to study how water-based etchant radicals (OH and H) may enhance the chiral selectivity during CVD growth using CNT cap models. Chemical reactivities of the caps with the etchant radicals were evaluated using density functional theory (DFT). It was found that the reactivities on the cap edges correlate with the chirality of the caps. These results suggest that proper selection of etchant species can provide opportunities for selective chirality control of the product CNTs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inducing regioselective chemical reactivity in graphene with alkali metal intercalation

First principles calculations demonstrate that alkali metal atoms, intercalated between metal substrates and adsorbed graphene monolayers, induce localised regions of increased reactivity. The extent of this localisation is proportional to the size of the alkali atom and the strength of the graphene-substrate interaction. Thus, larger alkali atoms are more effective (e.g. K > Na > Li), as are stronger-interacting substrates (e.g. Ni > Cu). Despite the electropositivity of these alkali metal adsorbates, analysis of charge transfer between the alkali metal, the substrate and the adsorbed graphene layer indicates that charge transfer does not give rise to the observed regioselective reactivity. Instead, the increased reactivity induced in the graphene structure is shown to arise from the geometrical distortion of the graphene layer imposed by the intercalated adsorbed atom. We show that this strategy can be used with arbitrary adsorbates and substrate defects, provided such structures are stable, towards controlling the mesoscale patterning and chemical functionalisation of graphene structures.

The effect of nano confinement on the C-h activation and its corresponding structure-activity relationship

The C–H activation of methane, ethane, and t-butane on inner and outer surfaces of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (NCNTs) are investigated using density functional theory. It includes NCNTs with different diameters, different N and O concentrations, and different types (armchair and zigzag). A universal structure-reactivity relationship is proposed to characterize the C–H activation occurring both on the inner and outer surfaces of the nano channel. The C–O bond distance, spin density and charge carried by active oxygen are found to be highly related to the C–H activation barriers. Based on these theoretical results, some useful strategies are suggested to guide the rational design of more effective catalysts by nano channel confinement.

Characterizing and Understanding Divalent Adsorbates on Carbon Nanotubes with Ab Initio and Classical Approaches: Size, Chirality, and Coverage Effects

The study of oxygen chemisorption on single-walled carbon nanotubes generally relies on simple atomistic models and hence hampers the possibility to understand whether nanotube size or adduct concentration have a role in determining the surface-adsorbate interaction. Our large-scale DFT-based simulations show that structural and electronic properties as well as diffusion barriers strongly depend on both nanotube diameter and adsorbate concentration. Our atomistic models cover nanotube of different chirality with diameters from 0.6 to 1.5 nm and oxygen concentration from 0.1 to 1%. In particular, the tendency to cluster increases with concentration and stabilizes ether (ET) groups but affects hopping barriers only to a minor extent. Significant differences with graphene are found, also for 1.5 nm diameter nanotubes. Extension to species isoelectronic to oxygen reveals dissimilarities, and especially for sulfur that tends to form epoxides (EP), to diffuse more easily and to rapidly close the energy gap for increasing concentration. The relative ET-EP stability can be described in terms of the bare-bond curvature, a concentration-dependent chemical descriptor here introduced. Comparison of these DFT calculations-using different exchange-correlation functionals-and our additional investigation with a reactive force-field (ReaxFF) clarifies several similarities but also discrepancies between the predictions of the two schemes.

The effects of interactions between proline and carbon nanostructures on organocatalysis in the Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert reaction

The non-covalent interactions of S-(-)-proline with the surfaces of carbon nanostructures (fullerene, nanotubes and graphite) change the nucleophilic-electrophilic and acid-base properties of the amino acid, thus tuning its activity and selectivity in the organocatalytic Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert (HPESW) reaction. Whilst our spectroscopy and microscopy measurements show no permanent covalent bonding between S-(-)-proline and carbon nanostructures, a systematic investigation of the catalytic activity and selectivity of the organocatalyst in the HPESW reaction demonstrates a clear correlation between the pyramidalisation angle of carbon nanostructures and the catalytic properties of S-(-)-proline. Carbon nanostructures with larger pyramidalisation angles have a stronger interaction with the nitrogen atom lone pair of electrons of the organocatalyst, thereby simultaneously decreasing the nucleophilicity and increasing the acidity of the organocatalyst. These translate into lower conversion rates but higher selectivities towards the dehydrated product of Aldol addition.

Quantum chemical investigation of epoxide and ether groups in graphene oxide and their vibrational spectra

We present a detailed analysis of the factors influencing the formation of epoxide and ether groups in graphene nanoflakes using conventional density functional theory (DFT), the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method, π-Hückel theory, and graph theoretical invariants. The relative thermodynamic stability associated with the chemisorption of oxygen atoms at various positions on hexagonal graphene flakes (HGFs) of D(6h)-symmetry is determined by two factors - viz. the disruption of the π-conjugation of the HGF and the geometrical deformation of the HGF structure. The thermodynamically most stable structure is achieved when the former factor is minimized, and the latter factor is simultaneously maximized. Infrared (IR) spectra computed using DFT and DFTB reveal a close correlation between the relative thermodynamic stabilities of the oxidized HGF structures and their IR spectral activities. The most stable oxidized structures exhibit significant IR activity between 600 and 1800 cm(-1), whereas less stable oxidized structures exhibit little to no activity in this region. In contrast, Raman spectra are found to be less informative in this respect.

Interaction of acetone with single wall carbon nanotubes at cryogenic temperatures: a combined temperature programmed desorption and theoretical study

The interaction of acetone with single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at low temperatures was studied by a combination of temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and dispersion-augmented density-functional-based tight binding (DFTB-D) theoretical simulations. On the basis of the results of the TPD study and theoretical simulations, the desorption peaks of acetone can be assigned to the following adsorption sites: (i) sites with energy of approximately 75 kJ mol (-1) ( T des approximately 300 K)endohedral sites of small diameter nanotubes ( approximately 7.7 A); (ii) sites with energy 40-68 kJ mol (-1) ( T des approximately 240 K)acetone adsorption on accessible interstitial, groove sites, and endohedral sites of larger nanotubes ( approximately 14 A); (iii) sites with energy 25-42 kJ mol (-1) ( T des approximately 140 K)acetone adsorption on external walls of SWCNTs and multilayer adsorption. Oxidatively purified SWCNTs have limited access to endohedral sites due to the presence of oxygen functionalities. Oxygen functionalities can be removed by annealing to elevated temperature (900 K) opening access to endohedral sites of nanotubes. Nonpurified, as-received SWCNTs are characterized by limited access for acetone to endohedral sites even after annealing to elevated temperatures (900 K). Annealing of both purified and as-produced SWCNTs to high temperatures (1400 K) leads to reduction of access for acetone molecules to endohedral sites of small nanotubes, probably due to defect self-healing and cap formation at the ends of SWCNTs. No chemical interaction between acetone and SWCNTs was detected for low temperature adsorption experiments. Theoretical simulations of acetone adsorption on finite pristine SWCNTs of different diameters suggest a clear relationship of the adsorption energy with tube sidewall curvature. Adsorption of acetone is due to dispersion forces, with its C-O bond either parallel to the surface or O pointing away from it. No significant charge transfer or polarization was found. Carbon black was used to model amorphous carbonaceous impurities present in as-produced SWCNTs. Desorption of acetone from carbon black revealed two peaks at approximately 140 and approximately 180-230 K, similar to two acetone desorption peaks from SWCNTs. The characteristic feature of acetone desorption from SWCNTs was peak at approximately 300 K that was not observed for carbon black. Care should be taken when assigning TPD peaks for molecules desorbing from carbon nanotubes as amorphous carbon can interfere.