Hierarchical Interactions and Their Influence upon the Adsorption of Organic Molecules on a Graphene Film

Abstract

The competition between intermolecular interactions and lateral variations in the molecule-substrate interactions has been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), comparing the phase formation of (sub)monolayers of the organic molecule 2,4'-BTP on buckled graphene/Ru(0001) and Ag(111) oriented thin films on Ru(0001). On the Ag films, the molecules form a densely packed 2D structure, while on graphene/Ru(0001), only the areas between the maxima are populated. The findings are rationalized by a high corrugation in the adsorption potential for 2,4'-BTP molecules on graphene/Ru(0001). These findings are supported by temperature programmed desorption (TPD) experiments and theoretical results.

Controlled chemistry of tailored graphene nanoribbons for electrochemistry: a rational approach to optimizing molecule detection

“…This figure shows AFM images for a small GNRox sheet with an average thickness of about 0.8 nm and an area of 200 x 150 nm 2 . The theoretical thickness of a perfectly flat unoxidized sp 2 -carbon-atom network 40 is predicted to be 0.4 nm 1 . The thickness of the GNRox sample measured here was consistent the thickness of two stacked graphene sheets; however, this thickness may also indicate a single layer graphene structure having oxygen functionalities on the surface 47 .…”

“…S5). 40 The dispersion of the graphene material was of paramount importance for obtaining these results (see Fig. S1).…”

“…Graphenes include graphitic structures that are dimensionally limited to a few to hundred nanometres along the basal plane of the graphene sheets in the x-y plane, such as graphene 40 nanoribbons (GNRs), which can including single-(G-SL), few-(G-FL), or multilayer (G-ML) structures 4 . GNRs may be thought of as unzipped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that have been created with structural control during the unzipping process.…”

“…These target molecules are usually oxidized at approximately the same 30 potential; therefore, discrimination among these species in a mixture can be extremely difficult using most solid electrodes 38 . In the bibliography interactions between molecules and graphene have been reported using density functional theory and quantum physics 39,40 . The studies described here sought to (1) 35 explore the electrochemical performances of fully characterized GNRs with respect to the detection of significant target molecules, and (2) …”

Small-angle lattice rotations in graphene on Ru(0001)

“…28 The formation of moiré-like superstructures on many supporting crystalline substrates that give rise to corrugation is known to facilitate the function of supported graphene for atomic, molecular, or metallic cluster adsorption. 9,[30][31][32] Chirality may enhance this functionality, e.g., for molecular chiral recognition. 28 The presence of physical corrugation in systems that form a moiré superposition has been attributed to, and contributes to, the spatially varying proximity of carbon and metal atoms and the strength of their interaction within the unit cell.…”