Fuchi Liu

Synthesis and photoluminescence of fluorinated graphene quantum dots

Fluorinated graphene quantum dots (F-GQDs) were synthesized by cutting fluorinated graphene through a hydrothermal approach. The F-GQDs with oxygen-rich functional groups have a F/C atomic ratio of ca. 23.68% and diameter of 1-7 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of the F-GQDs were investigated. The results showed that besides exhibiting bright blue PL, the F-GQDs display a clear upconversion PL.

Elemental superdoping of graphene and carbon nanotubes.

Doping of low-dimensional graphitic materials, including graphene, graphene quantum dots and single-wall carbon nanotubes with nitrogen, sulfur or boron can significantly change their properties. We report that simple fluorination followed by annealing in a dopant source can superdope low-dimensional graphitic materials with a high level of N, S or B. The superdoping results in the following doping levels: (i) for graphene, 29.82, 17.55 and 10.79 at% for N-, S- and B-doping, respectively; (ii) for graphene quantum dots, 36.38 at% for N-doping; and (iii) for single-wall carbon nanotubes, 7.79 and 10.66 at% for N- and S-doping, respectively. As an example, the N-superdoping of graphene can greatly increase the capacitive energy storage, increase the efficiency of the oxygen reduction reaction and induce ferromagnetism. Furthermore, by changing the degree of fluorination, the doping level can be tuned over a wide range, which is important for optimizing the performance of doped low-dimensional graphitic materials.

Obtaining High Localized Spin Magnetic Moments by Fluorination of Reduced Graphene Oxide

Fluorination was confirmed to be the most effective route to introduce localized spins in graphene. However, adatoms clustering in perfect graphene lead to a low efficiency. In this study, we report experimental evidence of the generation of localized spin magnetic moments on defective graphene (reduced graphene oxide) through fluorination. More interstingly, the result shows that defects help increase the efficiency of the fluorination with regard to the density of magnetic moments created. Fluorinated reduced graphene oxide can have a high magnetic moment of 3.187 × 10(-3) μB per carbon atom and a high efficiency of 8.68 × 10(-3) μB per F atom. It may be attributed to the many vacancies, which hinder the clustering of F atoms, and introduce many magnetic edge adatoms.

Realization of ferromagnetic graphene oxide with high magnetization by doping graphene oxide with nitrogen

The long spin diffusion length makes graphene very attractive for novel spintronic devices, and thus has triggered a quest for integrating the charge and spin degrees of freedom. However, ideal graphene is intrinsic non-magnetic, due to a delocalized π bonding network. Therefore, synthesis of ferromagnetic graphene or its derivatives with high magnetization is urgent due to both fundamental and technological importance. Here we report that N-doping can be an effective route to obtain a very high magnetization of ca. 1.66 emu/g, and can make graphene oxide (GO) to be ferromagnetism with a Curie-temperature of 100.2 K. Clearly, our findings can offer the easy realization of ferromagnetic GO with high magnetization, therefore, push the way for potential applications in spintronic devices.

Tuning photoluminescence of reduced graphene oxide quantum dots from blue to purple

Reduced graphene oxide quantum dots (rGOQDs) were synthesized by annealing GOQDs in H2 atmosphere. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of GOQDs and the rGOQDs samples were investigated. The results showed that compared to GOQDs, a blue to purple tunable PL of rGOQDs can be obtained by regulating the annealing temperature. The increase fraction of the newly formed isolated sp2 clusters may be responsible for the observed tunable PL.

Identifying the magnetic properties of graphene oxide

Highly oxidative debris (OD) was obtained by aqueous ammonia wash of as-prepared graphene oxide (GO) which composed of OD and lightly oxidative GO sheets. The magnetic properties of OD and GO were studied. The results showed that OD has a low magnetization of 0.16 emu/g, and the magnetization of GO can be increased from 0.38 to 0.42 emu/g by discarding low-magnetization OD. Thus, this study provided a reliable method to increase the magnetization of GO. Hydroxyl groups were proposed to be the magnetic source.

Robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet effectively induced by OH groups

Inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet is very difficult, and is one of the greatest challenges in the study of physical chemistry of graphene materials. Theoretical studies predicted that introduction of a kind of sp3-type defects formed by OH groups is an effective pathway to achieve this goal [Boukhvalov, D. W. & Katsnelson, M. I. ACS Nano 5, 2440–2446 (2011)]. Here we demonstrate that OH groups can efficiently induce robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet. We show that the inducing efficiency can reach as high as 217 μB per 1000 OH groups. More interestingly, the magnetic moments are robust and can survive even at 900°C. Our findings highlight the importance of OH group as an effective sp3-type candidate for inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet.

Gram-scale synthesis of high-purity graphene quantum dots with multicolor photoluminescence

A gram-scale approach has been developed to prepare highly pure graphene quantum dots (GQDs) from Vulcan XC-72 carbon black refluxed with concentrated nitric acid using a home-built experimental system. The weight of the GQDs is high, up to 1.2 g in each run with a yield of 75 wt%, and the purity is 99.96 wt%. The results show that the GQDs exhibit multicolor photoluminescence from green to light red under different excitation wavelengths.

Catalyst-free synthesis of reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotube hybrid materials by acetylene-assisted annealing graphene oxide

A facile catalyst-free approach for synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-carbon nanotube (RGO-CNT) hybrid materials was presented by acetylene-assisted annealing graphene oxide. The weight ratio of CNTs to RGO can be adjusted by regulating the annealing temperature, and it can be tuned in a relatively wide range of 0.33 to 7.039. The catalyst-free method opens up the possibility for the synthesis of RGO-CNTs for various applications.

Universal Effectiveness of Inducing Magnetic Moments in Graphene by Amino-Type sp3-Defects

Inducing magnetic moments in graphene is very important for its potential application in spintronics. Introducing sp3-defects on the graphene basal plane is deemed as the most promising approach to produce magnetic graphene. However, its universal validity has not been very well verified experimentally. By functionalization of approximately pure amino groups on graphene basal plane, a spin-generalization efficiency of ~1 μB/100 NH2 was obtained for the first time, thus providing substantial evidence for the validity of inducing magnetic moments by sp3-defects. As well, amino groups provide another potential sp3-type candidate to prepare magnetic graphene.