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Bairi P, Furuse A, Fujisawa K, Hayashi T, Kaneko K. Effect of Pretreatment Conditions on the Precise Nanoporosity of Graphene Oxide. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:15880-15886. [PMID: 36469405 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Nanoscale pores in graphene oxide (GO) control various important functions. The nanoporosity of GO is sensitive to low-temperature heating. Therefore, it is important to carefully process GO and GO-based materials to achieve superior functions. Optimum pretreatment conditions, such as the pre-evacuation temperature and time, are important during gas adsorption in GO to obtain accurate pore structure information. This study demonstrated that the pre-evacuation temperature and time for gas adsorption in GO must be approximately 333-353 K and 4 h, respectively, to avoid the irreversible alteration of nanoporosity. In situ temperature-dependent Fourier-transform infrared spectra and thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry suggested significant structural changes in GO above the pre-evacuation temperature (353 K) through the desorption of "physically adsorbed water" and decomposition of unstable surface functional groups. The nanoporosity of GO significantly changed above the aforementioned pre-evacuation temperature and time. Thus, standard pretreatment is indispensable for understanding the intrinsic interface properties of GO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Partha Bairi
- Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
| | - Ayumi Furuse
- Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
| | - Kazunori Fujisawa
- Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
| | - Takuya Hayashi
- Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
- Department of Water Environment and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
| | - Katsumi Kaneko
- Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan
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2
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Huang S, Villalobos LF, Li S, Vahdat MT, Chi HY, Hsu KJ, Bondaz L, Boureau V, Marzari N, Agrawal KV. In Situ Nucleation-Decoupled and Site-Specific Incorporation of Å-Scale Pores in Graphene Via Epoxidation. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2206627. [PMID: 36271513 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202206627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Generating pores in graphene by decoupled nucleation and expansion is desired to achieve a fine control over the porosity, and is desired to advance several applications. Herein, epoxidation is introduced, which is the formation of nanosized epoxy clusters on the graphitic lattice as nucleation sites without forming pores. In situ gasification of clusters inside a transmission electron microscope shows that pores are generated precisely at the site of the clusters by surpassing an energy barrier of 1.3 eV. Binding energy predictions using ab initio calculations combined with the cluster nucleation theory reveal the structure of the epoxy clusters and indicate that the critical cluster is an epoxy dimer. Finally, it is shown that the cluster gasification can be manipulated to form Å-scale pores which then effectively sieve gas molecules based on their size. This decoupled cluster nucleation and pore formation will likely pave the way for an independent control of pore size and density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqi Huang
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Luis Francisco Villalobos
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Shaoxian Li
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Mohammad Tohidi Vahdat
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
- Theory and Simulation of Materials (THEOS) and National Centre for Computational Design and Discovery of Novel Materials (MARVEL), EPFL, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Heng-Yu Chi
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Kuang-Jung Hsu
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Luc Bondaz
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
| | - Victor Boureau
- Interdisciplinary Center for Electron Microscopy, EPFL, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Nicola Marzari
- Theory and Simulation of Materials (THEOS) and National Centre for Computational Design and Discovery of Novel Materials (MARVEL), EPFL, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Kumar Varoon Agrawal
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, CH-1950, Switzerland
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3
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Li S, Vahdat MT, Huang S, Hsu KJ, Rezaei M, Mensi M, Marzari N, Agrawal KV. Structure Evolution of Graphitic Surface upon Oxidation: Insights by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. JACS AU 2022; 2:723-730. [PMID: 35373205 PMCID: PMC8970004 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Oxidation of graphitic materials has been studied for more than a century to synthesize materials such as graphene oxide, nanoporous graphene, and to cut or unzip carbon nanotubes. However, the understanding of the early stages of oxidation is limited to theoretical studies, and experimental validation has been elusive. This is due to (i) challenging sample preparation for characterization because of the presence of highly mobile and reactive epoxy groups formed during oxidation, and (ii) gasification of the functional groups during imaging with atomic resolution, e.g., by transmission electron microscopy. Herein, we utilize a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (LT-STM) operating at 4 K to solve the structure of epoxy clusters form upon oxidation. Three distinct nanostructures corresponding to three stages of evolution of vacancy defects are found by quantitatively verifying the experimental data by the van der Waals density functional theory. The smallest cluster is a cyclic epoxy trimer. Their observation validates the theoretical prediction that epoxy trimers minimize the energy in the cyclic structure. The trimers grow into honeycomb superstructures to form larger clusters (1-3 nm). Vacancy defects evolve only in the larger clusters (2-3 nm) in the middle of the cluster, highlighting the role of lattice strain in the generation of vacancies. Semiquinone groups are also present and are assigned at the carbon edge in the vacancy defects. Upon heating to 800 °C, we observe cluster-free vacancy defects resulting from the loss of the entire epoxy population, indicating a reversible functionalization of epoxy groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoxian Li
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
| | - Mohammad Tohidi Vahdat
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
- Theory
and Simulation of Materials (THEOS), National Centre for Computational
Design and Discovery of Novel Materials (MARVEL), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Shiqi Huang
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
| | - Kuang-Jung Hsu
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
| | - Mojtaba Rezaei
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
| | - Mounir Mensi
- Institut
des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques (ISIC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
| | - Nicola Marzari
- Theory
and Simulation of Materials (THEOS), National Centre for Computational
Design and Discovery of Novel Materials (MARVEL), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Kumar Varoon Agrawal
- Laboratory
of Advanced Separations (LAS), École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion 1950, Switzerland
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4
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Stability and Bandgap Engineering of In1-xGaxSe Monolayer. NANOMATERIALS 2022; 12:nano12030515. [PMID: 35159860 PMCID: PMC8839788 DOI: 10.3390/nano12030515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Bandgap engineering of semiconductor materials represents a crucial step for their employment in optoelectronics and photonics. It offers the opportunity to tailor their electronic and optical properties, increasing the degree of freedom in designing new devices and widening the range of their possible applications. Here, we report the bandgap engineering of a layered InSe monolayer, a superior electronic and optical material, by substituting In atoms with Ga atoms. We developed a theoretical understanding of In1−xGaxSe stability and electronic properties in its whole compositional range (x=0−1) through first-principles density functional theory calculations, the cluster expansion method, and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Our findings highlight the possibility of modulating the InGaSe bandgap by ≈0.41 eV and reveal that this compound is an excellent candidate to be employed in many optoelectronic and photonic devices.
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Abdelhalim AOE, Sharoyko VV, Ageev SV, Farafonov VS, Nerukh DA, Postnov VN, Petrov AV, Semenov KN. Graphene Oxide of Extra High Oxidation: A Wafer for Loading Guest Molecules. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:10015-10024. [PMID: 34618465 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We present a new modification of graphene oxide with very high content (85 wt %) of oxygen-containing functional groups (hydroxy, epoxy, lactol, carboxyl, and carbonyl groups) that forms stable aqueous dispersion in up to 9 g·L-1 concentration solutions. A novel faster method of the synthesis is described that produces up to 1 kg of the material and allows controlling the particle size in solution. The synthesized compound was characterized by various physicochemical methods and molecular dynamics modeling, revealing a unique structure in the form of a multilayered wafer of several sheets thick, where each sheet is highly corrugated. The ragged structure of the sheets forms pockets with hindered mobility of water that leads to the possibility of trapping guest molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdelsattar O E Abdelhalim
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
- Environmental Research Department, National Center for Social and Criminological Research (NCSCR), Giza 11561, Egypt
| | - Vladimir V Sharoyko
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
- Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, 6-8 L'va Tolstogo ulitsa, Saint Petersburg, 197022, Russia
- A. M. Granov Russian Research Centre for Radiology and Surgical Technologies, 70 Leningradskaya ulitsa, Saint Petersburg, 197758, Russia
| | - Sergei V Ageev
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
- Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, 6-8 L'va Tolstogo ulitsa, Saint Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Vladimir S Farafonov
- V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 4 Svobody ploshchad', Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine
| | - Dmitry A Nerukh
- Department of Mathematics, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, The United Kingdom
| | - Viktor N Postnov
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
| | - Andrey V Petrov
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
| | - Konstantin N Semenov
- Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, 26 Universitetskii prospekt, Saint Petersburg, 198504, Russia
- Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, 6-8 L'va Tolstogo ulitsa, Saint Petersburg, 197022, Russia
- A. M. Granov Russian Research Centre for Radiology and Surgical Technologies, 70 Leningradskaya ulitsa, Saint Petersburg, 197758, Russia
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6
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Raffone F, Savazzi F, Cicero G. Molecular dynamics study of the pore formation in single layer graphene oxide by a thermal reduction process. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:11831-11836. [PMID: 33988195 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp00134e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Nanoporous graphene is considered the next-generation material for reverse osmosis water desalination providing both high water permeability and almost complete salt rejection. The main problem with graphene is the difficulty of synthesizing membranes with a consistent subnanometer pore size distribution. A recently proposed solution involves processing as-grown graphene oxide (GO) monolayers via a mild temperature annealing pre-treatment causing GO functional groups to cluster into small oxidized islands. A following harsh thermal reduction process creates pores only in the small oxidized regions. However, a suitable relationship between the area of the GO islands and the pore dimension is still missing. Here, we study in detail the effects of such a thermal reduction process on the graphene oxide sheet by means of molecular dynamics simulations, particularly highlighting and analysing the process parameters affecting the final pore area. Besides proving that epoxides represent the most suitable functional group to induce carbon removal and, thus, pore generation in reduced GO, we find a twofold way to achieve control over the pore size: tuning the dimension and shape of the initial clustered GO areas or changing the harsh reduction process temperature. An accurate balance of these parameters consistently gives rise to targeted pore dimensions in graphene membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Raffone
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, White City Campus, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 0BZ, UK.
| | - Filippo Savazzi
- Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino 10129, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Cicero
- Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino 10129, Italy
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7
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Huang S, Li S, Villalobos LF, Dakhchoune M, Micari M, Babu DJ, Vahdat MT, Mensi M, Oveisi E, Agrawal KV. Millisecond lattice gasification for high-density CO 2- and O 2-sieving nanopores in single-layer graphene. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/9/eabf0116. [PMID: 33627433 PMCID: PMC7904253 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf0116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Etching single-layer graphene to incorporate a high pore density with sub-angstrom precision in molecular differentiation is critical to realize the promising high-flux separation of similar-sized gas molecules, e.g., CO2 from N2 However, rapid etching kinetics needed to achieve the high pore density is challenging to control for such precision. Here, we report a millisecond carbon gasification chemistry incorporating high density (>1012 cm-2) of functional oxygen clusters that then evolve in CO2-sieving vacancy defects under controlled and predictable gasification conditions. A statistical distribution of nanopore lattice isomers is observed, in good agreement with the theoretical solution to the isomer cataloging problem. The gasification technique is scalable, and a centimeter-scale membrane is demonstrated. Last, molecular cutoff could be adjusted by 0.1 Å by in situ expansion of the vacancy defects in an O2 atmosphere. Large CO2 and O2 permeances (>10,000 and 1000 GPU, respectively) are demonstrated accompanying attractive CO2/N2 and O2/N2 selectivities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqi Huang
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Shaoxian Li
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Luis Francisco Villalobos
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Mostapha Dakhchoune
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Marina Micari
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Deepu J Babu
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Mohammad Tohidi Vahdat
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Mounir Mensi
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques (ISIC), EPFL, 1950 Sion, Switzerland
| | - Emad Oveisi
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (CIME), EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kumar Varoon Agrawal
- Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1950 Sion, Switzerland.
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8
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Madauß L, Foller T, Plaß J, Kumar PV, Musso T, Dunkhorst K, Joshi R, Schleberger M. Selective Proton Transport for Hydrogen Production Using Graphene Oxide Membranes. J Phys Chem Lett 2020; 11:9415-9420. [PMID: 33104361 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Graphene oxide has shown exceptional properties in terms of water permeability and filtration characteristics. Here the suitability of graphene oxide membranes for the spatial separation of hydronium and hydroxide ions after photocatalytic water splitting is demonstrated. Instead of relying on classical size exclusion by adjusting the membrane laminates' interlayer spacings, nonmodified graphene oxide is used to exploit the presence of its natural functional groups and surface charges for filtration. Despite a significantly larger interlayer spacing inside the membrane compared with the size of the hydrated radii of the ions, highly asymmetric transport behavior and a 6 times higher mobility for hydronium than for hydroxide are observed. DFT simulations reveal that hydroxide ions are more prone to interact and stick to the functional groups of graphene oxide, while diffusion of hydronium ions through the membrane is less impeded and aligns well with the concept of the Grotthuss mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Madauß
- Faculty of Physics and CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
| | - Tobias Foller
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Jannik Plaß
- Faculty of Physics and CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
| | - Priyank V Kumar
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Tiziana Musso
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Kirsten Dunkhorst
- Faculty of Engineering and Physics, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
| | - Rakesh Joshi
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Marika Schleberger
- Faculty of Physics and CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
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