Large Carbon Cluster Anions Generated by Laser Ablation of Graphene

Abstract

The formation of large even-numbered carbon cluster anions, C À n , with n up to 500 were observed in the mass spectra generated by laser ablation of graphene and graphene oxide, and the signal intensity of the latter is much weaker than that of the former. The cluster distributions generated from graphene can be readily altered by changing the laser energy and the accumulation period in the FT -ICR cell. can be observed by the process of collisional activation with N 2 gas for most cluster ions, several cluster anions can lose units of C 2 , C 4 , C 6 or C 8 in their collision process. The differences in their dissociation kinetics and structures require further calculations and experimental studies.

Formation of endohedral metallofullerene (EMF) ions of (M = La, Y, n ≤ 6, 50 ≤ 2m ≤ 194) in the laser ablation process with graphene as precursor

“…The solid samples of graphene were prepared by the method described previously. [21][22][23][24] Briefly, graphene oxide was first prepared from natural graphite (Qingdao Huarun Graphite Co., Ltd, Qingdao, China) by the modified Hummers method. [25,26] The sample of graphene was then obtained by reduction of the graphene oxide.…”

“…In our previous work, we have found that the behavior of graphene is different from that of other carbon materials used in the laser ablation process. [21,22] Inspired by these results, we investigated the formation of endohedral metallofullerene ions from direct mixtures of graphene and metal chlorides. Endohedral metallofullerene (EMF) M@C þ 2m ions (M = K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr and Ba; 2m = 60-220) have previously been observed in mass spectra.…”

A systematic study on the generation of multimetallic lanthanide fullerene ions by laser ablation mass spectrometry

“…Our previous studies have shown that graphene is capable of generating fullerene and EMFs, which exhibited different behavior from other carbon materials in the laser ablation MS experiments . EMF ions were synthesized by laser ablation of a graphene/MCl 3 (or MCl 4 ) mixture on a metal plate and characterized by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry (MS).…”

Laser Engineered Graphene Paper for Mass Spectrometry Imaging

“…With recent advances in nanotechnology, various nano-structured materials have been used in irradiation involved area, such as sensitive analysis of molecules567, including graphene based nano-materials89101112131415. Nevertheless, graphene is not stable under strong irradiation conditions41617181920. For example, the in situ formation of C 60 on the surface of graphene under 80 keV electron beam irradiation was observed by Chuvilin et al17, and carbon clusters with larger sizes (C n , n < 500) were also observed in the mass spectrometry (MS) spectra of graphene with high intensity during the laser desorption/ionization (LDI) process19, which may decrease the detection sensitivity in MS based analysis.…”

“…Nevertheless, graphene is not stable under strong irradiation conditions41617181920. For example, the in situ formation of C 60 on the surface of graphene under 80 keV electron beam irradiation was observed by Chuvilin et al17, and carbon clusters with larger sizes (C n , n < 500) were also observed in the mass spectrometry (MS) spectra of graphene with high intensity during the laser desorption/ionization (LDI) process19, which may decrease the detection sensitivity in MS based analysis. Considering the fact that carbon clusters produced from graphene during irradiation may have lower atomic energy (~−0.26 eV/atom) and thus are more stable compared to graphene17, we hypothesise that by introducing stable carbon species homogenously distributed on the surface in situ , engineered graphene products can meet the needs of applications designed in extreme conditions, e. g. intense irradiation.…”