1
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Gaudin LF, Wright IR, Harris-Lee TR, Jayamaha G, Kang M, Bentley CL. Five years of scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM): new insights and innovations. NANOSCALE 2024; 16:12345-12367. [PMID: 38874335 DOI: 10.1039/d4nr00859f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a nanopipette-based technique which enables measurement of localised electrochemistry. SECCM has found use in a wide range of electrochemical applications, and due to the wider uptake of this technique in recent years, new applications and techniques have been developed. This minireview has collected all SECCM research articles published in the last 5 years, to demonstrate and celebrate the recent advances, and to make it easier for SECCM researchers to remain well-informed. The wide range of SECCM applications is demonstrated, which are categorised here into electrocatalysis, electroanalysis, photoelectrochemistry, biological materials, energy storage materials, corrosion, electrosynthesis, and instrumental development. In the collection of this library of SECCM studies, a few key trends emerge. (1) The range of materials and processes explored with SECCM has grown, with new applications emerging constantly. (2) The instrumental capabilities of SECCM have grown, with creative techniques being developed from research groups worldwide. (3) The SECCM research community has grown significantly, with adoption of the SECCM technique becoming more prominent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lachlan F Gaudin
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, 3800 VIC, Australia.
| | - India R Wright
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, 3800 VIC, Australia.
| | - Thom R Harris-Lee
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, 3800 VIC, Australia.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, UK
| | - Gunani Jayamaha
- School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Camperdown, 2050 NSW, Australia
| | - Minkyung Kang
- School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Camperdown, 2050 NSW, Australia
| | - Cameron L Bentley
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, 3800 VIC, Australia.
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2
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Tong J, Fu Y, Domaretskiy D, Della Pia F, Dagar P, Powell L, Bahamon D, Huang S, Xin B, Costa Filho RN, Vega LF, Grigorieva IV, Peeters FM, Michaelides A, Lozada-Hidalgo M. Control of proton transport and hydrogenation in double-gated graphene. Nature 2024; 630:619-624. [PMID: 38898294 PMCID: PMC11186788 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07435-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
The basal plane of graphene can function as a selective barrier that is permeable to protons1,2 but impermeable to all ions3,4 and gases5,6, stimulating its use in applications such as membranes1,2,7,8, catalysis9,10 and isotope separation11,12. Protons can chemically adsorb on graphene and hydrogenate it13,14, inducing a conductor-insulator transition that has been explored intensively in graphene electronic devices13-17. However, both processes face energy barriers1,12,18 and various strategies have been proposed to accelerate proton transport, for example by introducing vacancies4,7,8, incorporating catalytic metals1,19 or chemically functionalizing the lattice18,20. But these techniques can compromise other properties, such as ion selectivity21,22 or mechanical stability23. Here we show that independent control of the electric field, E, at around 1 V nm-1, and charge-carrier density, n, at around 1 × 1014 cm-2, in double-gated graphene allows the decoupling of proton transport from lattice hydrogenation and can thereby accelerate proton transport such that it approaches the limiting electrolyte current for our devices. Proton transport and hydrogenation can be driven selectively with precision and robustness, enabling proton-based logic and memory graphene devices that have on-off ratios spanning orders of magnitude. Our results show that field effects can accelerate and decouple electrochemical processes in double-gated 2D crystals and demonstrate the possibility of mapping such processes as a function of E and n, which is a new technique for the study of 2D electrode-electrolyte interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Tong
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
| | - Y Fu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - D Domaretskiy
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - F Della Pia
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - P Dagar
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - L Powell
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - D Bahamon
- Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH Center) and Chemical Engineering Department, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Research and Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D materials (RIC2D), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - S Huang
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - B Xin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - R N Costa Filho
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
| | - L F Vega
- Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH Center) and Chemical Engineering Department, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Research and Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D materials (RIC2D), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - I V Grigorieva
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - F M Peeters
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
- Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - A Michaelides
- Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - M Lozada-Hidalgo
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
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3
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Rice PS, Lee G, Schwartz B, Autrey T, Ginovska B. Leveraging Curvature on N-Doped Carbon Materials for Hydrogen Storage. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2310162. [PMID: 38221703 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202310162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Carbon sorbent materials have shown great promise for solid-state hydrogen (H2) storage. Modification of these materials with nitrogen (N) dopants has been undertaken to develop materials that can store H2 at ambient temperatures. In this work density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to systematically probe the influence of curvature on the stability and activity of undoped and N-doped carbon materials toward H binding. Specifically, four models of carbon materials are used: graphene, [5,5] carbon nanotube, [5,5] D5d-C120, and C60, to extract and correlate the thermodynamic properties of active sites with varying degrees of sp2 hybridization (curvature). From the calculations and analysis, it is found that graphitic N-doping is thermodynamically favored on more pyramidal sites with increased curvature. In contrast, it is found that the hydrogen binding energy is weakly affected by curvature and is dominated by electronic effects induced by N-doping. These findings highlight the importance of modulating the heteroatom doping configuration and the lattice topology when developing materials for H2 storage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S Rice
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Gabriel Lee
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Brayden Schwartz
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Tom Autrey
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Bojana Ginovska
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
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4
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Zhang L, Wahab OJ, Jallow AA, O’Dell ZJ, Pungsrisai T, Sridhar S, Vernon KL, Willets KA, Baker LA. Recent Developments in Single-Entity Electrochemistry. Anal Chem 2024; 96:8036-8055. [PMID: 38727715 PMCID: PMC11112546 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c01406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- L. Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77845, United States
| | - O. J. Wahab
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77845, United States
| | - A. A. Jallow
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77845, United States
| | - Z. J. O’Dell
- Department
of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - T. Pungsrisai
- Department
of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - S. Sridhar
- Department
of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - K. L. Vernon
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77845, United States
| | - K. A. Willets
- Department
of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - L. A. Baker
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77845, United States
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5
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Hou Y, Zhou J, He Z, Chen J, Zhu M, Wu H, Lu Y. Tuning instability in suspended monolayer 2D materials. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4033. [PMID: 38740743 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48345-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials possess excellent in-plane mechanical strength yet extremely low bending stiffness, making them particularly susceptible to instability, which is anticipated to have a substantial impact on their physical functionalities such as 2D-based Micro/Nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS), nanochannels, and proton transport membrane. In this work, we achieve quantitatively tuning instability in suspended 2D materials including monolayer graphene and MoS2 by employing a push-to-shear strategy. We comprehensively examine the dynamic wrinkling-splitting-smoothing process and find that monolayer 2D materials experience stepwise instabilities along with different recovery processes. These stepwise instabilities are governed by the materials' geometry, pretension, and the elastic nonlinearity. We attribute the different instability and recovery paths to the local stress redistribution in monolayer 2D materials. The tunable instability behavior of suspended monolayer 2D materials not only allows measuring their bending stiffness but also opens up new opportunities for programming the nanoscale instability pattern and even physical properties of atomically thin films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Hou
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jingzhuo Zhou
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Zezhou He
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China
| | - Juzheng Chen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Mengya Zhu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - HengAn Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China
| | - Yang Lu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 999077, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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6
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Xu Y, Liu H, Geng H, Liu R, Dai X. Evaporation-driven interfacial restructuring induces highly efficient methanogenesis of waste biomass. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 254:121422. [PMID: 38460225 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2024] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/11/2024]
Abstract
Methanogenesis of waste biomass (WB) is a promising method for global sustainable development, reduction of pollution and carbon emission levels, and recovering bioenergy. Unlike in the methanogenesis of organic wastewater, in which microbial cells come into direct contact with the dissolved substrate, the 'solid-liquid-solid' modes in WB and between WB and microbial cells, which involve numerous solid-liquid interfaces, greatly hinder the methanogenesis efficiency of WB. Amongst all WB, waste activated sludge is the most complex, poorly biodegradable and representative. Herein, we highlight the role of water evaporation-driven solid-liquid interfacial restructuring of sludge in determining its methanogenesis efficiency. Non-free water evaporation increased surface roughness and adhesion, and compressed pore structure with numerous capillaries in sludge, resulting in a new solid-liquid interface of sludge with great capillary force and highly ordered interfacial water molecules, which provides an extremely favourable condition for high mass transfer and proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) in sludge. This restructuring was confirmed to induce the enhancement of solid-liquid interfacial noncovalent interactions and electron transfer efficiency in the subsequent methanogenesis process (P < 0.05), promoting the effective contact between the sludge substrate and microbial cells, thereby enriching the methanogenic consortia (i.e., Clostridia and Methanosarcina were increased by 290.0 % and 239.7 %, respectively) and improving the activities of key enzymes. Stable isotope tracing and metagenomic analysis further reveal that this restructuring promoted the participation of water molecules in the methane formation by PCET-driven release of protons from water, and enhanced main methanogenesis metabolic pathways, especially the metabolic pathway of CO2-reduction methanogenesis (+65.2 %), thereby resulting in a great advance in methane generation (+147 %, P < 0.001). The findings can provide a reference for regulating directional anaerobic biotransformation of water-rich multiphase complex substrates by interfacial restructuring inducement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Haoyu Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Hui Geng
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Rui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Xiaohu Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China.
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7
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Liu Y, Xiong W, Bera A, Ji Y, Yu M, Chen S, Lin L, Yuan S, Sun P. Catalytic selectivity of nanorippled graphene. NANOSCALE HORIZONS 2024; 9:449-455. [PMID: 38198181 DOI: 10.1039/d3nh00462g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Experiments have shown that nanoscale ripples in a graphene membrane exhibit unexpectedly high catalytic activity with respect to hydrogen dissociation. Nonetheless, the catalytic selectivity of nanorippled graphene remains unknown, which is an equally important property for assessing a catalyst's potential and its fit-for-purpose applications. Herein, we examine the catalytic selectivity of nanorippled graphene using a model reaction of molecular hydrogen with another simple but double-bonded molecule, oxygen, and comparing the measurement results with those from splitting of hydrogen molecules. We show that although nanorippled graphene exhibits a high catalytic activity toward hydrogen dissociation, the activity for catalyzing the hydrogen-oxygen reaction is quite low, translating into a strong catalytic selectivity. The latter reaction involves the reduction of oxygen molecules by the dissociated hydrogen adatoms, which requires additional energy cost and practically determines the selectivity. In this sense, the well-established information about reactions in general of atomic hydrogen with many other species in the literature could potentially predict the selectivity of nanorippled graphene as a catalyst. Our work provides implications for the catalytic properties of nanorippled graphene, especially its selectivity. The results would be important for its extension to a wider range of reactions and for designer technologies involving hydrogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Liu
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.
| | - Wenqi Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
| | - Achintya Bera
- National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
| | - Yu Ji
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.
| | - Miao Yu
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.
| | - Shi Chen
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.
| | - Li Lin
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P. R. China
| | - Shengjun Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
| | - Pengzhan Sun
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.
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8
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Wu ZF, Sun PZ, Wahab OJ, Tan YT, Barry D, Periyanagounder D, Pillai PB, Dai Q, Xiong WQ, Vega LF, Lulla K, Yuan SJ, Nair RR, Daviddi E, Unwin PR, Geim AK, Lozada-Hidalgo M. Proton and molecular permeation through the basal plane of monolayer graphene oxide. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7756. [PMID: 38012200 PMCID: PMC10682477 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43637-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer a prospect of membranes that combine negligible gas permeability with high proton conductivity and could outperform the existing proton exchange membranes used in various applications including fuel cells. Graphene oxide (GO), a well-known 2D material, facilitates rapid proton transport along its basal plane but proton conductivity across it remains unknown. It is also often presumed that individual GO monolayers contain a large density of nanoscale pinholes that lead to considerable gas leakage across the GO basal plane. Here we show that relatively large, micrometer-scale areas of monolayer GO are impermeable to gases, including helium, while exhibiting proton conductivity through the basal plane which is nearly two orders of magnitude higher than that of graphene. These findings provide insights into the key properties of GO and demonstrate that chemical functionalization of 2D crystals can be utilized to enhance their proton transparency without compromising gas impermeability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z F Wu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - P Z Sun
- Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, 999078, China.
| | - O J Wahab
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Y T Tan
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - D Barry
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - D Periyanagounder
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - P B Pillai
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Q Dai
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - W Q Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - L F Vega
- Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH Center) and Chemical Engineering Department, Khalifa University, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Research and Innovation Center for graphene and 2D materials (RIC2D), Khalifa University, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - K Lulla
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - S J Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - R R Nair
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - E Daviddi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - P R Unwin
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
| | - A K Geim
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
| | - M Lozada-Hidalgo
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- Research and Innovation Center for graphene and 2D materials (RIC2D), Khalifa University, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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9
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Huang S, Griffin E, Cai J, Xin B, Tong J, Fu Y, Kravets V, Peeters FM, Lozada-Hidalgo M. Gate-controlled suppression of light-driven proton transport through graphene electrodes. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6932. [PMID: 37907470 PMCID: PMC10618495 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42617-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent experiments demonstrated that proton transport through graphene electrodes can be accelerated by over an order of magnitude with low intensity illumination. Here we show that this photo-effect can be suppressed for a tuneable fraction of the infra-red spectrum by applying a voltage bias. Using photocurrent measurements and Raman spectroscopy, we show that such fraction can be selected by tuning the Fermi energy of electrons in graphene with a bias, a phenomenon controlled by Pauli blocking of photo-excited electrons. These findings demonstrate a dependence between graphene's electronic and proton transport properties and provide fundamental insights into molecularly thin electrode-electrolyte interfaces and their interaction with light.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Huang
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - E Griffin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
| | - J Cai
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- College of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, National University of Defence Technology, Changsha, Hunan, 410073, China
| | - B Xin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - J Tong
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Y Fu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - V Kravets
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - F M Peeters
- Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Ceara, 60455-900, Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil
- Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - M Lozada-Hidalgo
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
- Research and Innovation Center for graphene and 2D materials (RIC2D), Khalifa University, PO Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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