Open AccessSelf‐Assembled Functionalized Graphene Nanoribbons from Carbon Nanotubes
Author(s) -
Cunha Eunice,
Proença Maria Fernanda,
Costa Florinda,
Fernandes António J.,
Ferro Marta A. C.,
Lopes Paulo E.,
González-Debs Mariam,
Melle-Franco Manuel,
Deepak Francis Leonard,
Paiva Maria C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemistryopen
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2191-1363
DOI - 10.1002/open.201402135
Subject(s) - graphene nanoribbons , graphene , carbon nanotube , graphite , materials science , transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , evaporation , chemical engineering , carbon fibers , layer (electronics) , solvent , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , composite number , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Graphene nanoribbons (GNR) were generated in ethanol solution by unzipping pyrrolidine‐functionalized carbon nanotubes under mild conditions. Evaporation of the solvent resulted in regular few‐layer stacks of graphene nanoribbons observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X‐ray diffraction. The experimental interlayer distance (0.49–0.56 nm) was confirmed by computer modelling (0.51 nm). Computer modelling showed that the large interlayer spacing (compared with graphite) is due to the presence of the functional groups and depends on their concentration. Stacked nanoribbons were observed to redissolve upon solvent addition. This preparation method could allow the fine‐tuning of the interlayer distances by controlling the number and/or the nature of the chemical groups in between the graphene layers.