New Strategy for Synthesis of Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbons

该奖项由化学学部的大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目资助。支持芝加哥大学董广斌教授开发以精确扶手椅模式排列的单碳原子厚石墨烯纳米带的合成新方法。每条缎带的宽度只有人类头发的一小部分。这些材料在轻量化和柔性电子器件中作为半导体具有潜在的应用。该项目解决了制备具有各种化学官能团和带结构的带的挑战，这些带将被纳入新一代分子器件中。在开展该项目的同时，董小组积极参与了领导力联盟夏季研究早期识别计划。其目的是将该项目与教育和推广相结合，并鼓励不同的本科生探索科学和工程方面的职业。该项目旨在提供一种有效的方法来制备具有可控电子带结构和高电荷迁移率的扶手椅石墨烯纳米带（aGNRs）。该项目推进了三个主要目标：采用统一的方法编制不同宽度的agnr；合成具有精确安装功能边缘的aGNRs；并开发一种链生长聚合方法来获取长度可控的agnr，并制备基于agnr的P/N结。该项目提供了广泛的agnr，旨在测试和验证物理学家和物理化学家先前提出的假设和理论模型。这些结果有望加速这些有趣材料的物理和理论研究，并推进对这些类石墨烯一维聚合物的理解，从而进一步激发和刺激其他新型共轭有机半导体材料的发展。

This award is funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry. Professor Guangbin Dong of the University of Chicago is supported to develop new approaches for the synthesis of single carbon atom thick graphene nanoribbons arranged in precise armchair pattern. Each ribbon is a tiny fraction of a human hair in width. These materials have potential applications as semiconductors in light-weight and flexible electronic devices. This project addresses the challenges of preparing ribbons with various chemical functional groups and band structures to be incorporated in a new generation of molecular devices. While conducting the project, the Dong group is actively participating in the Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program. The intention is to integrate the project with education and outreach and to encourage diverse undergraduate students to explore careers in science and engineering. The project aims to offer an efficient approach to prepare armchair graphene nanoribbons (aGNRs) with controlled electron band structures and high charge mobility. The project advance three main objectives: to enable a unified approach to prepare aGNRs with various widths; to synthesize aGNRs with precisely installed functional edges; and to develop a chain-growth-polymerization approach to access aGNRs with controlled lengths and prepare aGNR-based P/N junctions. The project makes available a wide range of aGNRs, designed to test and validate hypotheses and theoretical models proposed previously by physicists and physical chemists. The results are expected to accelerate the physical and theoretical studies of these intriguing materials and to advance the understanding of these graphene-like one-dimensional polymers, which in turn would further inspire and stimulate the development of other new conjugated organic semiconducting materials.