Observing High‐Pressure Chemistry in Graphene Bubbles |
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| Authors: | Candy Haley Yi Xuan Lim Milos Nesladek Prof. Kian Ping Loh |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Graphene Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117543 (Singapore);2. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Life Sciences #05‐01, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456 (Singapore);3. IMOMEC, Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark, B 3590 Dipenbeek (Belgium) |
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| Abstract: | Using IR spectroscopy, high‐pressure reactions of molecules were observed in liquids entrapped by graphene nanobubbles formed at the graphene–diamond interface. Nanobubbles formed on graphene as a result of thermally induced bonding of its edges with diamond are highly impermeable, thus providing a good sealing of solvents within. Owing to the optical transparency of graphene and diamond, high‐pressure chemical reactions within the bubbles can be probed with vibrational spectroscopy. By monitoring the conformational changes of pressure‐sensitive molecules, the pressure within the nanobubble can be calibrated as a function of temperature and it is about 1 GPa at 600 K. The polymerization of buckministerfullerene (C60), which is symmetrically forbidden under ambient conditions, is observed to proceed in well‐defined stages in the pressurized nanobubbles. |
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| Keywords: | anvil cells conformational changes diamond graphene high pressure |
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