Derivatization of Pristine Graphene with Well-Defined Chemical Functionalities

在这个由化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学计划资助的项目中，马萨诸塞大学洛厄尔分校的严明迪将开发一种通用的方法来衍生化石墨烯，并有可能实现空间选择性。石墨烯材料的可获得性和可加工性阻碍了石墨烯为电子学、光子学和纳米复合材料带来革命性的潜力。该方法是在石墨烯存在下对全氟苯叠氮化物及其衍生物进行光解/热分析。瞬时单重态全氟苯基硝烯将与石墨烯pi-键发生[2+1]环加成反应，在石墨烯表面形成氮杂环丙烷基团，在石墨烯片层边缘有选择性地生成pi-键。官能团的位置将通过纳米颗粒或C60的进一步衍生化以及使用原子力显微镜和电子显微镜进行成像来确定。更广泛的影响包括通过让女本科生和高中女孩参与研究来培训她们，向她们介绍强大的榜样，以及消除围绕女性在STEM职业生涯的神话。当地一所高中将开设一门新的科学课程，面向高中可能不会学习STEM课程的女学生。这项工作将增进将化学物种附着到石墨烯的基础知识，石墨烯是一种由单层碳原子组成的片状材料。所开发的方法将使制备独特的电子材料成为可能对电子和复合材料领域产生重大影响的材料。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Mingdi Yan of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell will develop a general method to derivatize graphene and potentially achieve spatial selectivity. The potential of graphene to revolutionize electronics, photonics, and nanocomposite materials has been hampered by the availability and processability of graphene materials. The approach is to photolyze/thermalyze perfluorophenyl azide and its derivatives in the presence of graphene. The transient singlet perfluorphenyl nitrene will undergo a [2+1] cycloaddition with graphene pi-bonds to form aziridine groups on the graphene surface, and there is the potential for selectivity towards pi-bonds at the edge of the graphene sheet. The location of the functional groups will be determined by further derivatization with nanoparticles or C60 and imaging using AFM and TEM. The broader impacts include training female undergraduates and high school girls by engaging them in research, introducing them to strong role models, and dispelling myths surrounding careers for women in STEM. A new science course will be established at a local high school, targeting female students who may not otherwise take STEM courses in high school.This work would advance fundamental knowledge about attaching chemical species to graphene, a sheet-like material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms. The methods developed would allow the preparation of unique electronic materials that could have significant impacts on the fields of electronics and composite materials.