Preparation of graphene oxides with different sheet sizes by temperature control

The sheet size of a graphene oxide(GO) can greatly influence its electrical, optical, mechanical, electrochemical and catalytic property. It is a key challenge to how to control the sheet size during its preparation in different application fields. According to our previous theoretical calculations of the effect of temperature on the oxidation process of graphene,we use Hummers method to prepare GOs with different sheet sizes by simply controlling the temperature condition in the process of the oxidation reaction of potassium permanganate(KMn O_4) with graphene and the dilution process with deionized water. The results detected by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and atomic force microscopy(AFM)show that the average sizes of GO sheets prepared at different temperatures are about 1 μm and 7 μm respectively. The ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy(UV-vis) shows that lower temperature can lead to smaller oxidation degrees of GO and less oxygen functional groups on the surface. In addition, we prepare GO membranes to test their mechanical strengths by ultrasonic waves, and we find that the strengths of the GO membranes prepared under low temperatures are considerably higher than those prepared under high temperatures, showing the high mechanical strengths of larger GO sheets. Our experimental results testify our previous theoretical calculations. Compared with the traditional centrifugal separation and chemical cutting method, the preparation process of GO by temperature control is simple and low-cost and also enables large-size synthesis. These findings develop a new method to control GO sheet sizes for large-scale potential applications.     

A thin film perspective on quantum functional oxides

Transition metal oxides show remarkably diverse quantum functional properties such as high temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, multiferroicity, two-dimensional electron gas, and topological insulators. This diversity manifests as a result of many energy scales of similar magnitude competing rather than any particular one dominating in the system. In this regard, growth of atomically controlled epitaxial thin films and heterostructures would allow to control relevant energy scales by imposing various stimuli, such as reduction of dimensionality, introduction of interfaces, modification of the interfacial octahedral tilts, and symmetry breaking; in turn, modified functional properties or completely new phenomena may emerge in epitaxial thin films and heterostructures. Also of exceeding importance is the fact that atomically controlled epitaxial thin films and heterostructures of the multifunctional oxides offer promising potentials for next generation oxide electronics. In this short review, we collect representative examples of quantum correlated phenomena arising in epitaxial films and heterostructures of transition metal oxides and highlight some of the progresses achieved in thin film research of various functional oxides in the last couple of decades.     

Preparation and electrochemical properties of LiFePO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/graphene composites from tailoring graphene oxides

LiFePO₄/graphene composites have been prepared by using tailoring graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets as precursors. The structure and electrochemical properties of the composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman microscopy, and a variety of electrochemical testing techniques. The decrease in graphene size reduces the contact resistance between activated materials, and enhances the lithium-ion transport in LiFePO₄/graphene composites. With low weight fractions of small-size graphene sheets, the composites show better electrochemical performance than those with large size graphene sheets.     

氢化与非氢化石墨烯纳米条带的密度泛函研究

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法,研究了宽度N=8的边缘氢化和非氢化条带的结构和电子性质. 研究表明,扶手形无氢化石墨纳米条带的边缘碳原子是以三重键相互结合,它在边缘的成键强度比氢化时要高,具有更强的化学活性,可作为纳米化学传感器的基础材料. 能带结构计算表明,无论是扶手形条带还是锯齿形条带,它们都是具有带隙的半导体,且无氢化条带的带隙要比氢化的条带带隙宽度大,氢化对于条带的电子性质具有显著修饰作用. 通过锯齿形石墨纳米条带顺磁性、铁磁性和反铁磁性的计算,发现反铁磁的状态最稳定,并且边缘磁性最强,这有利于条带在自旋电子器件中的应用. 关键词： 石墨纳米条带 成键机理 电子结构 自旋分布     

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.     

A comparison of hybrid density functional theory with photoemission of surface oxides of δ-plutonium

We carried out high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) studies on a gallium stabilized δ-phase plutonium sample cleaned by laser ablation and gas dosed with O₂. The measurements were made at a sample temperature of 77 K with an overall instrument resolution of 60 meV. At this temperature the PES strongly favor an idealized model of Pu₂O₃ growth on the metal surface followed by PuO₂ growth on the Pu₂O₃. These experimental results provide an excellent benchmark for a new generation of hybrid density functional calculations that have been used to model a defective plutonium dioxide lattice. The hybrid functional predicts an insulating ground state. This is of paramount importance for the study of actinide oxides because the conventional density functional theory approaches predict them to be metals, when in fact they are insulators with significant band gaps. The calculated density of states for PuO₂ and Pu₂O₃ agree reasonably well with the experimental data.     

还原温度对氧化石墨烯结构及室温下H_2敏感性能的影响

以氧化石墨凝胶制备的氧化石墨烯(GO)溶胶为前驱体,在100—350℃温度下还原获得不同还原程度的还原氧化石墨烯(rGO)样品,并采用旋涂工艺制备还原氧化石墨烯气敏薄膜元件.采用X射线衍射、拉曼光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱和气敏测试等手段研究还原温度对样品结构、官能团和气敏性能的影响.结果表明:经热还原处理的氧化石墨烯结构向较为有序的类石墨结构转变,还原温度为200℃时,样品处于GO向rGO转变的过渡阶段,还原温度达到250℃时,则表现出还原氧化石墨烯特性;无序程度随还原温度的升高先由0.85增大至1.59,随后减小至1.41,总体呈现增加趋势;氧化石墨烯表面含氧官能团随还原温度的升高逐渐热解失去,不同含氧官能团的失去温度范围不同;热还原氧化石墨烯具有优异的室温H_2敏感性能,随着还原温度的升高,元件灵敏度逐渐减小,响应-恢复时间逐渐增大,最佳灵敏度为88.56%,响应时间为30 s.     

Photon-interactions with perovskite oxides

Photons with variable energy, high coherency, and switchable polarization provide an ideal tool-kits for exploring the cutting-edge scientific questions in the condensed matter physics and material sciences. Over decades, extensive researches in the sample fabrication and excitation have employed the photon as one of the important means to synthesize and explore the low-dimensional quantum materials. In this review, we firstly summarize the recent progresses of the state-of-the-art thin-film deposition methods using excimer pulsed laser, by which syntactic oxides with atomic-unit-cell-thick layers and extremely high crystalline quality can be programmatically fabricated. We demonstrate that the artificially engineered oxide quantum heterostructures exhibit the unexpected physical properties which are absent in their parent forms. Secondly, we highlight the recent work on probing the symmetry breaking at the surface/interface/interior and weak couplings among nanoscale ferroelectric domains using optical second harmonic generation. We clarify the current challenges in the in-situ characterizations under the external fields and large-scale imaging using optical second harmonic generation. The improvements in the sample quality and the non-contact detection technique further promote the understanding of the mechanism of the novel properties emerged at the interface and inspire the potential applications, such as the ferroelectric resistive memory and ultrahigh energy storage capacitors.     

基于密度泛函理论的单层氢化石墨烯特性分析

本文采用密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了不同尺寸H-graphene的稳定性、HOMO-LU-MO能隙以及电子激发态.研究结果表明,对于C_(16)H_(10)、C_(30)H_(14)、C_(48)H_(18)、C_(70)H_(22)、C_(96)H_(26)、C_(126)H_(30)计算的比结合能,C_(126)H_(30)相比C_(16)H_(10)的比结合能增长23.9%,且比结合能随着H-graphene尺寸扩大而增加,意味着稳定性不断提高.通过对HOMO-LUMO能隙分析发现,在较小尺寸的H-graphene中,由于量子效应起主要作用,因此出现了较大的HOMO-LUMO能隙,且随着H-graphene团簇尺寸的增加,能隙逐渐缩小可以看出,对于无限大的H-graphene团簇中,HOMO-LUMO能隙无限趋近于零(相当于零带隙),其电子性质与纯石墨烯相似.通过分析C_(16)H_(10)、C_(30)H_(14)、C_(48)H_(18)、C_(70)H_(22)激发态以及了吸收光谱,发现随着尺寸的扩大,吸收光谱发生红移,为石墨烯在电子器件领域的应用提供理论基础.     

Defect-induced photoconductivity in layered manganese oxides: a density functional theory study

Enhanced photoconductivity of layered Mn(IV)O2 containing protonated Mn(IV) vacancy defects has been recently demonstrated, suggesting new technological possibilities for photoelectric conversion based on visible light harvesting. Using spin-polarized density functional theory, we provide the first direct evidence that such defects can indeed facilitate photoconductivity by (i) reducing the band-gap energy and (ii) separating electron and hole states. Our results thus support the proposition that nanosheet MnO2 offers an attractive new material for a variety of photoconductivity applications.     

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).     

Density functional theory prediction for diffusion of lithium on boron-doped graphene surface

The density functional theory (DFT) investigation shows that graphene has changed from semimetal to semiconductor with the increasing number of doped boron atoms. Lithium and boron atoms acted as charge contributors and recipients, which attracted to each other. Further investigations show that, the potential barrier for lithium diffusion on boron-doped graphene is higher than that of intrinsic graphene. The potential barrier is up to 0.22 eV when six boron atoms doped (B₆C₂₆), which is the lowest potential barrier in all the doped graphene. The potential barrier is dramatically affected by the surface structure of graphene.     

Density functional theory prediction for oxidation and exfoliation of graphite to graphene

A density functional theory (DFT) study of graphene synthesis from graphite oxidation and exfoliation is presented. The calculated DFT results for O adsorption predict CO as a most stable bond on the graphene oxide (GO) sheet. The obtained exfoliation energy for the graphene and the GO are 143 and ∼70 mJ/m² that verify easier exfoliation of the graphite oxide compared with the graphite. Furthermore, the DFT results show that for decreasing the exfoliation energy of the GO at least two layers of the graphite should be oxidized during the oxidation process.     

N、P掺杂硼烯/石墨烯异质结的密度泛函理论研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算方法系统研究了氮、磷掺杂对硼烯/石墨烯异质结的几何结构和电子性质的影响.结果表明,相较完整硼烯/石墨烯异质结的金属特性,氮、磷掺杂的硼烯/石墨烯异质结均表现为半导体特性.室温下的分子动力学模拟进一步论证了相关体系的动力学稳定性.研究结果能够为硼烯/石墨烯异质结在新型二维半导体材料中的应用提供参考价值.     

Doping graphene with metal contacts

Making devices with graphene necessarily involves making contacts with metals. We use density functional theory to study how graphene is doped by adsorption on metal substrates and find that weak bonding on Al, Ag, Cu, Au, and Pt, while preserving its unique electronic structure, can still shift the Fermi level with respect to the conical point by approximately 0.5 eV. At equilibrium separations, the crossover from p-type to n-type doping occurs for a metal work function of approximately 5.4 eV, a value much larger than the graphene work function of 4.5 eV. The numerical results for the Fermi level shift in graphene are described very well by a simple analytical model which characterizes the metal solely in terms of its work function, greatly extending their applicability.     

The bond force constants of graphene and benzene calculated by density functional theory

Stretching (k_r) and bending (k_θ) bond force constants appropriate to describe the bond stiffness of graphene and benzene are calculated using density functional theory. The effect of employing different exchange-correlation functionals for the calculation of k_r and k_θ is discussed using the generalised gradient approximation (GGA) and the local density approximation (LDA). For benzene, k_r = 7.93 mdyn Å^-1 and k_θ = 0.859 mdyn Å rad^-2 using LDA, while k_r = 7.67 mdyn Å^-1 and k_θ = 0.875 mdyn Å rad^-2 using GGA. For graphene, k_r = 7.40 mdyn Å^-1 and k_θ = 0.769 mdyn Å rad^-2 using LDA, while k_r = 6.88 mdyn Å^-1 and k_θ = 0.776 mdyn Å rad^-2 using GGA. This means the difference between the bond force constants for benzene and graphene can be as large as ～12%. The comparison between these two systems allows for elucidation of the effect of periodicity and substitution of carbon atoms by hydrogen in the stiffness of C–C bonds. This effect can be explained by a different redistribution of the charge density when the systems are subjected to strain. The parameters k_r and k_θ computed here can serve as an input to molecular mechanics or finite element codes of larger carbon molecules, which in the past had frequently assumed the same bond force constants for graphene, benzene or carbon nanotubes.