Tuning of electronic properties and dynamical stability of graphene oxide with different functional groups

The structural, electronic and vibrational properties of graphene oxide (GO) with varying proportion of epoxy and hydroxyl functional groups have been studied using density functional theory. The functional groups and oxygen density have an obvious influence on the electronic and vibrational properties. The dependence of band gap on associated functional groups and oxygen density shows a possibility of tuning the band gap of graphene by varying the functional groups as well as oxidation level. The absorption of high oxygen content in graphene leads to the gap opening and resulting in a transition from semimetal to semiconductor. Phonon dispersion curves show no imaginary frequency or no softening of any phonon mode throughout the Brillouin zone which confirms the dynamical stability of all considered GO models. Different groups and different oxygen density result into the varying characteristics of phonon modes. The computed results show good agreement with the experimental observations. Our results present interesting possibilities for engineering the electronic properties of graphene and GO and impact the fabrication of new electronics.     

Physical properties and device applications of graphene oxide

Graphene oxide (GO), the functionalized graphene with oxygenated groups (mainly epoxy and hydroxyl), has attracted resurgent interests in the past decade owing to its large surface area, superior physical and chemical properties, and easy composition with other materials via surface functional groups. Usually, GO is used as an important raw material for mass production of graphene via reduction. However, under different conditions, the coverage, types, and arrangements of oxygen-containing groups in GO can be varied, which give rise to excellent and controllable physical properties, such as tunable electronic and mechanical properties depending closely on oxidation degree, suppressed thermal conductivity, optical transparency and fluorescence, and nonlinear optical properties. Based on these outstanding properties, many electronic, optical, optoelectronic, and thermoelectric devices with high performance can be achieved on the basis of GO. Here we present a comprehensive review on recent progress of GO, focusing on the atomic structures, fundamental physical properties, and related device applications, including transparent and flexible conductors, field-effect transistors, electrical and optical sensors, fluorescence quenchers, optical limiters and absorbers, surface enhanced Raman scattering detectors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and thermal rectifiers.     

三明治结构graphene-2Li-graphene的储氢性能

本文使用密度泛函理论中的广义梯度近似对扩展三明治结构graphene-2Li-graphene的几何结构、电子性质和储氢性能进行计算研究.计算得知:位于单层石墨烯中六元环面心位上方的单个Li原子与基底之间的结合能最大(1.19 eV),但小于固体Li的实验内聚能(1.63 eV),然而,在双层石墨烯之间的单个Li原子与基底的结合能增加到3.41 eV,远大于固体Li的实验内聚能,因此位于双层石墨烯之间的多个Li原子不会成簇,有利于进一步储氢.扩展三明治结构graphene-2Li-graphene中每个Li原子最多可以吸附3个H_2分子,储氢密度高达10.20 wt.%,超过美国能源部制定的5.5 wt.%的目标.该体系对1—3个H_2分子的平均吸附能分别为0.37,0.17和0.12 eV,介于物理吸附和化学吸附(0.1—0.8 eV)之间,因此该体系可以实现常温常压下对H_2的可逆吸附.通过对态密度分析可知,每个Li原子主要通过电场极化作用吸附多个H_2分子.动力学和巨配分函数计算表明graphene-2Li-graphene结构对H_2分子具有良好的可逆吸附性能.该研究可以为开发良好的储氢材料提供一个好的研究思路,为实验工作提供理论依据.     

Mechanical properties of thin films of graphene materials: A study on their structural quality and functionalities

Several studies have been done on physiochemical properties of thin films of graphene materials, but less on their mechanical properties. The mechanical properties such as tensile and storage modulus of films of graphene oxide (GO), different reduced graphene oxides (rGO), functionalised reduced graphene oxide (frGO) and a few layers graphene (graphene) were analysed in this study. During syntheses processes, a range of variations occurs due to different reducing agents and functionalising components used; this affects or changes the mechanical properties of the materials. In addition, it has become vital to comprehend the mechanical properties of these films as the potential applications such as sensor and electrodes demand extended life cycles or lifetime. It has been found that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), tensile modulus, and storage modulus vary across all the samples that highly depend on nature/efficiency of reducing agent used, amount of impurities such as oxygen functional groups and defect density such as discrepancies/holes in the aromatic structure. The highest UTS and modulus have been identified with a few layers graphene and with hydroiodic acid reduced GO among the rGOs. The frGO shows almost similar properties to that of graphene.     

DFT study of graphene oxide reduction by a dopamine species

Recently a large interest has arisen for using less active reducers of graphene oxide, GO, that are friendly with the environment. In the present work, a DFT theoretical study on the reduction process of GO model surfaces is performed taking into account zwitterionic dopamine, ZDA, as reducing agent. Several periodic models representing epoxy and hydroxyl patches on GO basal plane are proposed. As the number of oxide groups in a patch of epoxies or hydroxyls on the surface of graphene increases from 1 to 5, these systems become more stable. Whereas the adsorption of ZDA on patches of GO with 5 epoxy groups is non-dissociative, that of ZDA on patches of GO with 5 hydroxyl groups is fundamentally dissociative, reducing the surface of graphene oxide. The H₂O molecule produced in the GO reduction becomes trapped to ZDA through a hydrogen bond. The ZDA binding to GO was analysed by considering electrostatic effects and attractive non-covalent contributions due to vdW interactions.     

扭转形变对石墨烯吸附O原子电学和光学性质影响的电子理论研究

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法研究了扭转形变对石墨烯吸附O体系结构稳定性、电子结构和光学性质,包括吸附能、带隙、吸收系数及反射率的影响.研究发现,吸附O原子后,距O原子最近的C原子被拔起,导致石墨烯平面发生扭曲.吸附能计算表明,扭转形变使石墨烯吸附O原子体系结构稳定性下降,而扭转程度对结构稳定性影响微弱.能带结构分析发现,O原子的吸附使石墨烯由金属变成半导体,扭转形变发生时,可实现其从半导体到金属、再到半导体特性的转变.扭转角为12°的吸附O原子体系为间接带隙,而其他出现带隙的体系均为直接带隙.与本征石墨烯受扭体系相比,吸附O原子体系的电子结构对扭转形变的敏感度降低,其中扭转角在10°—16°范围内变化时,带隙始终稳定在0.11 eV附近,即在此扭转角范围内始终对应窄带隙半导体.在光学性能中,受扭转形变的吸附体系吸收系数和反射率峰值较未受扭转形变石墨烯吸附O原子体系均减弱,且随着扭转程度的加剧,均出现红移到蓝移的转变.     

Effects of annealing temperature on GO–Cu2O composite films grown by electrochemical deposition for PEC photoelectrode

In this work, graphene oxide–cuprous oxide (GO–Cu₂O) composite films were grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates by electrochemical deposition. We investigated the effects of the annealing temperature on the morphological, structural, optical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of GO–Cu₂O composite films. As a result, our work shows that while GO–Cu₂O composite films exhibit the highest XRD (111) peak intensity at 300 °C sample, the highest photocurrent density value obtained was −4.75 mA/cm² at 200 °C sample (using 0.17 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). In addition, a reduction reaction at 300 °C sample was observed using XPS analysis from the shift in the O1s peak in addition to a weaker O1s peak intensity.     

Manipulation of inherent characteristics of graphene through N and Mg atom co-doping; a DFT study

First-principles calculations were performed to investigate the structural, electronic, magnetic and optical properties of nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) atom co-doped graphene systems. We observed that, N and Mg atom co-doping in graphene, introduces half-metallic properties in the electronic structure of graphene, introduces ferromagnetism behavior along with new trends in optical properties of graphene. Doping site and concentration of N and Mg atoms in graphene was changed and resulting effects of these changes on aforementioned properties were investigated. Through density of states plots we observed that, Mg atom sp orbitals mainly induced magnetic moments in graphene. It was revealed that, N/Mg atoms substitution in graphene introduces a red shift in absorption spectrum towards visible range and a finite absorption coefficient quantity value in 0 to 3 eV and 7 to 11 eV energy intervals is also produced, that is unavailable for absorption spectrum of intrinsic graphene. Moreover, N/Mg atoms co-doping produces increment in the reflectivity parameter of graphene in low lying energy region, while producing diminishing behavior in the higher energy range. These results offer a possibility to tune electronic, magnetic and optical characteristics of graphene sufficiently for utilization in graphene based spintronic and optoelectronic devices.     

Graphene as interface modifier in ITO and ITO-Cr electrodes

We explore graphene as interface modifier for electrodes in optoelectronic organic devices by measuring the electrical properties of ITO/graphene and ITO/Cr/graphene. For this purpose, exfoliated graphene (EG) was electrochemically synthesized and deposited by spray-pyrolysis. The built-in voltage (Vbi) values were 450 mV for the ITO/CuPc/Al reference, 750 mV for ITO/Cr/graphene/CuPc/Al and 1000 mV for ITO/graphene/CuPc/Al device structures. From these results, we estimate the work functions as 3.20 eV, 3.45 eV and 4.75 eV for ITO/EG, ITO/Cr/EG and ITO. To understand how the work function changes, we carried out first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT) where Cr work function (~4.2 eV) is not modified by the deposition of pristine graphene; however there is a substantial increase (from 4.2 eV to 5.2 eV), upon deposition of graphene oxide (GO), resulting from a complete transfer of O atoms from the GO sheet to the Cr surface forming a thin layer of chromium oxide.     

锑烯吸附金属Li原子的密度泛函研究

锑烯(antimonene)是继石墨烯和磷烯之后出现的新型二维材料,在锂离子电池等领域受到关注.本文基于第一性原理的密度泛函理论,计算研究了锑烯对Li原子的吸附特性,包括Li原子的最稳定吸附构型、吸附密度以及吸附Li原子的扩散路径.结果表明:Li原子最稳定的吸附位置位于谷位,即底层Sb原子之上、顶层三个Sb原子中心位置,吸附能为1.69 eV,吸附距离为2.81?;能带计算发现,锑烯为带隙宽度1.08 eV的间接带隙半导体,吸附Li原子后费米能级上升进入导带,呈现出金属性;原子分波态密度分析发现, Sb原子的p电子态和Li原子的p和s电子态形成明显的共振交叠,表现出杂化成键的特征;随着吸附Li原子数量增加,锑烯晶格结构和电子结构发生较大变化.通过微动弹性带方法计算发现, Li原子在锑烯表面的扩散势垒为0.07 eV,较小的势垒高度有利于快速充放电过程.     

缺陷对钠在石墨烯上吸附性能的影响

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了本征石墨烯和缺陷石墨烯吸附钠原子的电荷密度、吸附能、态密度和储存量.结果表明,本征石墨烯中,钠原子的最佳吸附位置为H位,缺陷石墨烯中,钠原子的最佳吸附位置为T_D位.缺陷石墨烯对钠原子的吸附能是-4.423 eV,约为本征石墨烯对钠原子吸附能的2.5倍;钠原子与缺陷石墨烯中的碳原子发生轨道杂化,而与本征石墨烯没有发生轨道杂化现象.缺陷石墨烯能够吸附10个钠原子,与本征石墨烯相比显著提高.因此,缺陷石墨烯有望成为一种潜在的储钠材料.     

钠在空位石墨烯上吸附性能的研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了本征石墨烯和空位石墨烯吸附钠原子的电荷密度、吸附能、态密度和储存量.结果表明,在两种石墨烯中,钠原子的最佳吸附位置都为H位.空位石墨烯对钠原子的吸附能是-2. 46 eV,约为本征石墨烯对钠原子吸附能的3. 4倍;钠原子与空位石墨烯中的碳原子发生轨道杂化,而与本征石墨烯没发生轨道杂化现象.存在一个空位的石墨烯能够吸附5个钠原子,与本征石墨烯相比显著提高.因此,空位石墨烯有望成为一种潜在的储钠材料.     

氮掺杂的石墨烯作为钠离子电池负极材料的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了本征石墨烯、氮掺杂的石墨烯和叽咯石墨烯吸附钠原子的电荷密度、吸附能、态密度和储存量.结果表明,三种石墨烯中,钠原子的最佳吸附位置为H位.与本征石墨烯相比,氮掺杂的石墨烯对钠原子的吸附能提高,叽咯石墨烯对钠原子的吸附能是-3.274 eV,约为本征石墨烯对钠原子吸附能的1.7倍.钠原子与叽咯石墨烯中的氮原子发生轨道杂化,而与本征石墨烯和氮掺杂的石墨烯没有发生轨道杂化现象.叽咯石墨烯能够吸附10个钠原子,与本征石墨烯相比显著提高,氮掺杂的石墨烯只能吸附4个钠原子.因此,叽咯石墨烯有望成为一种潜在的储钠材料.     

碱金属修饰的多孔石墨烯的储氢性能

基于第一性原理深入研究了碱金属原子(Li,Na,K)修饰的多孔石墨烯(PG)体系的储氢性能,并且通过从头算分子动力学模拟了温度对Li-PG吸附的H2分子稳定性的影响.研究结果表明,PG结构的碳环中心是碱金属原子最稳定的吸附位置,PG单胞最多可以吸附4个碱金属原子,Li原子被束缚最强,金属原子间无团聚的倾向;H2分子通过极化机制吸附在碱金属修饰的PG结构上,每个金属原子周围最多可以稳定地吸附3个H2分子;Li-PG对H2分子的吸附最强(平均吸附能为-0.246 eV/H2),Na-PG对H2分子的吸附较弱(平均吸附能为-0.129 eV/H2),K-PG对H2分子的吸附最弱(平均吸附能为-0.056 eV/H2),不适合用做储氢材料;在不考虑外界压强且温度为300 K的情况下,Li-PG结构可稳定地吸附9个H2分子,储氢量为9.25 wt.%;在400 K时,有7个吸附H2分子脱离Li-PG的束缚,在600-700 K的范围内,吸附H2分子全部脱离了Li-PG体系的束缚.     

Density functional theory study on the adsorption of alkali metal ions with pristine and defected graphene sheet

The graphene-based materials along with the adsorption of alkali metal ions are suitable for energy conversion and storage applications. Hence in the present work, we have investigated the structural and electronic properties of pristine and defected graphene sheet upon the adsorption of alkali metal ions (Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺) using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The presence of vacancies or vacancy defects enhances the adsorption of alkali ions than the pristine sheet. From the obtained results, it is found that the adsorption energy of Li⁺ on the vacancies defected graphene sheet is higher (3.05?eV) than the pristine (2.41?eV) and Stone–Wales (2.50?eV) defected sheets. Moreover, the pore radius of the pristine and defected graphene sheets are less affected by metal ions adsorption. The increase in energy gap upon the adsorption of metal ions is found to be high in the vacancy defected graphene than that of other sheets. The metal ions adsorption in the defective vacancy sheets has high charge transfer from metal ions to the graphene sheet. The bonding characteristic between the metal ions and graphene sheet are analysed using QTAIM analysis. The influence of alkali ions on the electronic properties of the graphene sheet is examined from the Total Density of States (TDOS) and Partial Density of States (PDOS).     

锂改性点缺陷石墨烯储氢性能的第一性原理研究

本研究采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法计算了两种石墨烯点缺陷处原子的分波态密度(PDOS),能带结构和差分电荷密度等,研究了锂掺杂对两种本征石墨烯缺陷C-Bridge和C7557电子结构的改性,以及对其储氢能力的影响.结果表明Li原子能够稳定的掺杂且不易形成团簇,并且Li原子掺杂石墨烯能够对石墨烯能带中的狄拉克锥和费米面起到调控作用,增强了缺陷石墨烯的电子活性.本征缺陷石墨烯的储氢能力较弱,缺陷石墨烯的储氢能力可以通过Li掺杂来改善.     

Self-organization of ultra-thin uranium film

We have studied the adsorption behaviors of uranium (U) atoms coated graphene at different coverage ratios using first-principles calculations. Isolated U atom is demonstrated to be more likely to stay on the hollow site of graphene with a large adsorption energy of 2.80 eV and high magnetic moment of 5.07 ${\mu }_{\text{B}}$. It seems that two U atoms tend to adsorb on the nearest neighbor hollow sites of graphene. As the concentration of U atom increases, no U-dimer or U-cluster appears with increasing coverage ratio. In the case of coverage ratio of 2/3, U atoms on graphene is the most stable configuration, where each U atoms are uniformly-distributed in U network with honeycomb lattice. The adsorption energy is as large as 2.57 eV per U atom. Moreover, the spin–orbit coupling effect on electronic band structures is outstanding, which induces the degeneracy bands splitting. Our calculations will provide profound background to understand the adsorption behaviors of U atoms on graphene.     

B、N掺杂对钠在石墨烯上吸附性能的影响

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了本征石墨烯及缺陷石墨烯对Na原子的吸附行为。主要研究了三种石墨烯：本征石墨烯、B掺杂的石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯。结果表明,与本征石墨烯相比,B掺杂的石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯在吸附能、电荷密度、态密度和储钠量方面表现出很大的差异。B掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附能是-1.93 eV,约为本征石墨烯对Na原子吸附能的2.7倍;与本征石墨烯相比,N掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附能明显增大。态密度计算结果表明,Na原子与B掺杂的石墨烯中的B原子发生轨道杂化,而本征石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯中不存在轨道杂化现象。B掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附量是3个,与本征石墨烯相比显著提高。因此,B掺杂的石墨烯有望成为一种新型的储钠材料。     

B、N掺杂对钠在石墨烯上吸附性能的影响

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了本征石墨烯及缺陷石墨烯对Na原子的吸附行为.主要研究了三种石墨烯:本征石墨烯、B掺杂的石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯.结果表明,与本征石墨烯相比,B掺杂的石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯在吸附能、电荷密度、态密度和储钠量方面表现出很大的差异.B掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附能是-1.93 e V,约为本征石墨烯对Na原子吸附能的2.7倍;与本征石墨烯相比,N掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附能明显增大.态密度计算结果表明,Na原子与B掺杂的石墨烯中的B原子发生轨道杂化,而本征石墨烯和N掺杂的石墨烯中不存在轨道杂化现象.B掺杂的石墨烯对Na原子的吸附量是3个,与本征石墨烯相比显著提高.因此,B掺杂的石墨烯有望成为一种新型的储钠材料.     

双层石墨烯吸附碱金属原子的第一性原理研究

基于密度泛函的第一性原理方法,研究了Li、Na、K和Rb碱金属原子吸附在双层石墨烯(BLG)表面的吸附能、迁移行为、电子性能. 研究发现,Li和Na原子在BLG表面吸附易形成团簇,K和Rb原子能够分散吸附. 碱金属原子在BLG表面的扩散能垒随原子半径的增加而减小. 碱金属原子吸附使电子部分转移至BLG,使体系Fermi能级贯穿导带,表现出金属性. 电荷密度差和电荷转移的分析表明,Li、Na、K和Rb与BLG表面以离子键结合.