Thiophene adsorption on Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes and graphene

Trapping Molecules in a Covalent Graphene-Nanotube Hybrid

This study employs molecular dynamics simulations to examine the physisorption behavior of hydrocarbon molecules on a covalent graphene-nanotube hybrid nanostructure. The results indicate that the adsorbed molecules undergo self-diffusion into the nanotubes without the need for external driving forces, primarily driven by significant variations in the binding energy throughout different regions. Notably, these molecules remain securely trapped within the tubes even at room temperature, thanks to a "gate" effect observed at the neck region, despite the presence of a concentration gradient that would typically hinder such trapping. This mechanism of passive mass transport and retention holds implications for the storage and separation of gas molecules.

Reactivity of Atomically Functionalized C-Doped Boron Nitride Nanoribbons and Their Interaction with Organosulfur Compounds

The electronic and reactivity properties of carbon doped (C-doped) boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) as a function of the carbon concentration were investigated in the framework of the density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation. We found that the main routes to stabilize energetically the C-doped BNNRs involve substituting boron atoms near the edges. However, the effect of doping on the electronic properties depends of the sublattice where the C atoms are located; for instance, negative doping (partial occupations of electronic states) is found replacing B atoms, whereas positive doping (partial inoccupation of electronic states) is found when replacing N atoms with respect to the pristine BNNRs. Independently of the even or odd number of dopants of the C-doped BNNRs studied in this work, the solutions of the Kohn Sham equations suggest that the most stable solution is the magnetic one. The reactivity of the C-doped BNNRs is inferred from results of the dual descriptor, and it turns out that the main electrophilic sites are located near the dopants along the C-doped BNNRs. The reactivity of these nanostructures is tested by calculating the interaction energy between undesirable organosulfur compounds present in oil fuels on the C-doped BNNRs, finding that organosulfur compounds prefer to interact over nanosurfaces with dopants substituted on the B sublattice of the C-doped BNNRs. Most importantly, the selective C doping on the BNNRs offers the opportunity to tune the properties of the BNNRs to fit novel technological applications.

Flavonol–carbon nanostructure hybrid systems: a DFT study on the interaction mechanism and UV/Vis features

The properties of flavonol–carbon nanosystem hybrid materials are analyzed using computational chemistry.

On the addition of aryl radicals to graphene: the importance of nonbonded interactions

Dispersion-corrected density functional theory is utilized to study the addition of aryl radicals to perfect and defective graphene. Although the perfect sheet shows a low reactivity against aryl diazonium salts, the agglomeration of these groups and the addition onto defect sites improves the feasibility of the reaction by increasing binding energies per aryl group up to 27 kcal mol(-1). It is found that if a single phenyl radical interacts with graphene, the covalent and noncovalent additions have similar binding energies, but in the particular case of the nitrophenyl group, the adsorption is stronger than the chemisorption. The single vacancy shows the largest reactivity, increasing the binding energy per aryl group by about 80 kcal mol(-1). The zigzag edge ranks second, enhancing the reactivity 5.4 times with respect to the perfect sheet. The less reactive defect site is the Stone-Wales type, but even in this case the addition of an isolated aryl radical is exergonic. The arylation process is favored if the groups are attached nearby and on different sublattices. This is particularly true for the ortho and para positions. However, the enhancement of the binding energies decreases quickly if the distance between the two aryl radicals is increased, thereby making the addition on the perfect sheet difficult. A bandgap of 1-2 eV can be opened on functionalization of the graphene sheets with aryl radicals, but for certain configurations the sheet can maintain its semimetallic character even if there is one aryl radical per eight carbon atoms. At the highest level of functionalization achieved, that is, one aryl group per five carbon atoms, the bandgap is 1.9 eV. Regarding the effect of using aryl groups with different substituents, it is found that they all induce the same bandgap and thus the presence of NO(2), H, or Br is not relevant for the alteration of the electronic properties. Finally, it is observed that the presence of tetrafluoroborate can induce metallic character in graphene.

Organic chemistry of graphene: the Diels-Alder reaction

Herein, by using dispersion-corrected density functional theory, we investigated the Diels-Alder chemistry of pristine and defective graphene. Three dienes were considered, namely 2,3-dimethoxy-1,3-butadiene (DMBD), 9-methylanthracene (9MA), and 9,10-dimethylanthracene (910DMA). The dienophiles that were assayed were tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) and maleic anhydride (MA). When pristine graphene acted as the dienophile, we found that the cycloaddition products were 47-63 kcal mol(-1) less stable than the reactants, thus making the reaction very difficult. The presence of Stone-Wales translocations, 585 double vacancies, or 555-777 reconstructed double vacancies did not significantly improve the reactivity because the cycloaddition products were still located at higher energy than the reactants. However, for the addition of 910DMA to single vacancies, the product showed comparable stability to the separated reactants, whereas for unsaturated armchair edges the reaction was extremely favorable. With regards the reactions with dienophiles, for TCNE, the cycloaddition product was metastable. In the case of MA, we observed a reaction product that was less stable than the reactants by 50 kcal mol(-1) . For the reactions between graphene as a diene and the dienophiles, we found that the most-promising defects were single vacancies and unsaturated armchair edges, because the other three defects were much-less reactive. Thus, we conclude that the reactions with these above-mentioned dienes may proceed on pristine or defective sheets with heating, despite being endergonic. The same statement also applies to the dienophile maleic anhydride. However, for TCNE, the reaction is only likely to occur onto single vacancies or unsaturated armchair edges. We conclude that the dienophile character of graphene is slightly stronger than its behavior as a diene.