Surface Reactions of 3-Butenenitrile on the Si(001)-2 × 1 Surface at Room Temperature

Universal Calibration of Computationally Predicted N 1s Binding Energies for Interpretation of XPS Experimental Measurements

Computationally predicted N 1s core level energies are commonly used to interpret the experimental measurements obtained with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This work compares the application of Koopmans' theorem to core electrons using the B3LYP functional with two commonly used basis sets, analyzes the factors relevant to the comparison of the computational with experimental data, and presents several correlations that allow an accurate prediction of the N 1s binding energy. The first correlation is obtained with a series of known nitrogen-containing functional groups on well-characterized organic monolayers. This approach can then be reliably extended to a number of nitrogen-containing chemical systems on silicon surfaces in which the nature of the chemical environment of nitrogen atoms had only been proposed based on a number of analytical techniques. In most of those cases, the XPS analysis is consistent with the proposed structures, but is not always sufficient for conclusive assignments. Third, it was attempted to also include N-containing systems on metals. Despite the admittedly oversimplified approach taken in this case (the metal surface is approximated by a single atom), the observed correlations are still experimentally useful, although in this case significant outliers are found. Finally, previously published correlations between experimental and theoretical C 1s data were reexamined, yielding a set of correlations that allow experimentalists to predict C 1s and N 1s XPS spectra with high accuracy.

Continuous production of nitrogen-functionalized graphene nanosheets for catalysis applications

This study reports the "continuous production" of high-quality, few-layer nitrogen-functionalized graphene nanosheets in aqueous solutions directly from graphite via a two-step method. The initial step utilizes our recently developed peroxide-mediated soft and green electrochemical exfoliation approach for the production of few-layer graphene nanosheets. The subsequent step, developed here, produces nitrogen-functionalized graphene nanosheets via selective alkylation/basic hydrolysis reactions using rather a simple nitrogen precursor bromoacetonitrile, which was never reported in the literature. A possible reaction mechanism of the nitrogen-functionalized graphene formation is proposed. The proposed method allows the quantification of the phenolic and hydroxyl functional groups of anodic few-layer graphene via the derivatization chemistry approach. Additionally, a nitrogen-functionalized graphene-gold nanocrystal hybrid is prepared using gold nanocrystals obtained via the microwave irradiation of H[AuCl4] and trisodium citrate solution. A systematic investigation demonstrates that the nitrogen-functionalized graphene-gold nanocrystal hybrid shows enhanced catalytic reduction of carbonyl compounds such as benzaldehyde.

Submerged liquid plasma for the synchronized reduction and functionalization of graphene oxide

Formation of reduced and functionalized graphene oxide (r-FGO) at ambient temperature and pressure is demonstrated by generating liquid plasma submerged in acetonitrile and graphene oxide solution. The partial restoration of conjugation (sp(2) domain) and insertion of fluorophores such as nitrile and amine in r-FGO displays enhanced fluorescence property. Presence of nitrile and amine in r-FGO are confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy. Morphology and optical property of r-FGO are studied with transmission electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy and Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy measurements. The nitrile and amine present in r-FGO undergo a surface-controlled reversible redox reaction and sp(2)- enriched r-FGO acts as an electrical double layer, providing additional hybrid capacitance or pseudocapacitance. r-FGO shows high cyclic stability with a specific capacitance value of 349 F/g at the scan rate of 10 mV/s. Only marginal reduction of specific capacitance (<10% reduction) is observed at the end of 1000 cycles.

NITRILES ADSORBED ON Si(001) AT 300 K STUDIED VIA SYNCHROTRON RADIATION CORE-ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPIES

This paper focuses on the use and value of XPS and NEXAFS spectroscopies to unveil the nature of the chemical bond of various bifunctional nitrile molecules adsorbed on Si (001) 2×1 at 300 K. The adsorption modes are also discussed in the light of recent theoretical publications devoted to optimized geometries and reaction paths of these molecules on Si (001).