No abstract

We have explored the interaction of Ni/Cr with pyridinic N-doped graphene and its influence on the electronic and magnetic characteristics of graphene using a density functional theory (DFT) approach. A [Formula: see text] graphene supercell with a single vacancy is modeled. Initially, the concentration of nitrogen atoms is varied in the pyridinic configuration of graphene. The structures, thus obtained, are decorated with Ni/Cr atoms. For configurations without transition metals (TMs), the calculated electronic band structures show a downward shift in Fermi level that decreases as nitrogen concentration increases. Furthermore, it is found that these structures manifest metallic behavior along with some flat bands near the Fermi level. With the addition of Ni/Cr atoms, the movement of the Fermi level toward the conduction band is noticed. The opening of the bandgap at the K-point also varies slightly with the concentration of N atoms and/or the presence of TM atoms. The structures P1N-Ni and P2N-Ni transmute into semiconductors. A significant increase in the magnetic moment is found with the adsorption of the Ni/Cr atom. The analysis of spin-polarized partial density of states proves that higher magnetic moments following TM absorption are mainly on account of the Ni/Cr-3d orbitals and their hybridization with C-2p orbitals. These findings suggest that functionalizing TMs on pyridinic N (Nitrogen)-doped graphene can drastically alter their electronic and magnetic properties.