Controllable conversion of quasi-freestanding polymer chains to graphene nanoribbons

Ma, Chuanxu; Xiao, Zhongcan; Zhang, Honghai; Liang, Liangbo; Huang, Jingsong; Lu, Wenchang; Sumpter, Bobby G.; Hong, Kunlun; Bernholc, J.; Li, An -Ping

doi:10.1038/ncomms14815

Title: Controllable conversion of quasi-freestanding polymer chains to graphene nanoribbons

Journal Article · Mon Mar 13 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14815· OSTI ID:1489365

^[1]; Xiao, Zhongcan ^[2]; Zhang, Honghai ^[1]; Liang, Liangbo ^[1];

^[3]; Lu, Wenchang ^[4]; Sumpter, Bobby G. ^[3]; Hong, Kunlun ^[1]; Bernholc, J. ^[4];

^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS) and Computer Science and Mathematics Div.
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics

In the bottom-up synthesis of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) from self-assembled linear polymer intermediates, surface-assisted cyclodehydrogenations usually take place on catalytic metal surfaces. Here we demonstrate the formation of GNRs from quasi-freestanding polymers assisted by hole injections from a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) tip. While catalytic cyclodehydrogenations typically occur in a domino-like conversion process during the thermal annealing, the hole-injection-assisted reactions happen at selective molecular sites controlled by the STM tip. The charge injections lower the cyclodehydrogenation barrier in the catalyst-free formation of graphitic lattices, and the orbital symmetry conservation rules favour hole rather than electron injections for the GNR formation. The created polymer–GNR intraribbon heterostructures have a type-I energy level alignment and strongly localized interfacial states. Lastly, this finding points to a new route towards controllable synthesis of freestanding graphitic layers, facilitating the design of on-surface reactions for GNR-based structures.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-98ER45685

OSTI ID:: 1489365

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 55 works

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