In this poster we will present the photo-electrical effect of pristine and nitric acid treated graphene field effect transistors made by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The results of the decreased electrical conductance and shift of Dirac point arise from the molecular photodesorption from graphene. When post treated with nitric acid the photodesorption efficiency was decrease from 52% to 21%, which was proposed to be caused by the passivation of oxygen-bearing functionalities to CVD graphene structural defects. This result provides a new strategy of stabilizing the electrical performance of CVD graphene which is promising candidate as highly conductively photoelectrical material.

It is essential to control the electronic properties of a graphene field effect transistor (GFET). And the ability to accurately control the intrinsic electrical transport properties and to locally change the carrier density will be significant for graphene devices. We succeeded in achieving and controlling the Dirac point (neutrality point) simply by doping block co-polymer (BCP) covered GFET with CF4 plasma. By exposing polymer covered GFET to CF4 plasma for a short time the electronic transport was altered significantly. The hexagonal structure of BCP produces patterns with nanoscale spacing for heterogeneous patterns which provides a new approach to tune the electron and the hole conductivity simultaneously. Exploitation of fluorine doping provides a general route to control electronic property of any polymer coated GFET. The BCP protected GFET could detect 1mM NaF solution in “dry” condition in 60s. The sensing property demonstrates that BCP protected GFET could be a good candidate for stable and sensitive chemical or biological sensor. Furthermore, the distinct property of two functional groups within BCP facilitates the selective sensing property. These findings pave the way for developing more stable and sensitive sensors under ambient conditions.

We report electrochemical characteristics of hydrogen terminated charge-transfer doped intrinsic microcrystalline diamond films. Microcrystalline diamond was synthesized by Direct- Current Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (DC-PECVD) in methane diluted by hydrogen. The diamond films were subjected to further treatment by microwave plasma in pure hydrogen to increase the hydrogen termination of the diamond surfaces and their negative electron affinity. When the diamond is exposed to the ambient moisture, valance electrons tend to tunnel from the first few atomic layers of the diamond surface to the adsorbed water adlayer. This charge transfer process results in the surface of hydrogen-terminated diamond behaving like a p-type semiconductor.

Electrochemical characteristics of hydrogen-terminated diamond films were exposed to an air plasma for depleting the surface hydrogen atoms and then re-hydrogenated the same diamond films with atomic hydrogen. Cyclic voltammetry in 0.1M H2S04 aqueous solution and 0.01M Fe(CN)6-4/-3+0.1M KCl aqueous solution was applied to reveal high current density and wide potential window for hydrogen-terminated diamond grown on silicon substrates. The faceted surface morphology has been observed by SEM. The crystalline characteristics and carbon phases in the diamond film were examined by Raman spectroscopy.

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) with a size in the range of 10 – 100 nm have been produced by ion irradiation and annealing, and isolated by differential centrifugation. Single particle spectroscopic characterization with confocal fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy indicates that they are photostable and useful as an alternative to far-red fluorescent proteins for bioimaging applications. We demonstrate the application by performing in vivo imaging of bare and bioconjugated FND particles (100 nm in diameter) in C. elegans and zebrafishes and exploring the interactions between this novel nanomaterial and the model organisms. Our results indicate that FNDs can be delivered to the embryos of both organisms by microinjection and eventually into the hatched larvae in the next generation. No deleterious effects have been observed for the carbon-based nanoparticles in vivo. The high fluorescence brightness, excellent photostability, and nontoxic nature of the nanomaterial have allowed long-term imaging and tracking of embryogenesis in the organisms.

We report first principles modeling of partially hydrogenated graphene, with a variety of hydrogen induced superstructures. The dependence of the optical gap on hydrogen content and coverage is examined, to assess the best configurations suitable for optoelectronic applications. Electron and optical DFT LDA gaps in the range between 0.2 and 1.5 eV were obtained for low hydrogen coverage. For such systems, hydrogen clustering (by saturating neighbouring C dangling bonds at the opposite sides of the graphene sheet) is energetically most favourable and generally produces larger gap. More homogeneous H distribution one-side bonded to C-host atoms is, in contrast, less energetically favourable or even structurally unstable and generally produces smaller gap. In addition, ordering of hydrogen was observed at 50% of H, that offers a possibility of transforming 2D graphene to an array of 1D nanowires Calculated linear optical anisotropy and nonlinear second harmonic generation (this will be discussed in a forthcoming paper) indicate these are not only gap sensitive, but can provide an access to microscopic details of the 2D nano-sheets such as symmetry, hydrogen induced structure, degree of hydrogenation, chemical bonding and many others, all promising for device application. The approach developed can be used for graphene/ graphane single layer or bilayer, formed on top of various substrates, where experimental geometries may not provide conditions for complete hydrogenation of the 2D nano-sheet(s).

We investigated the effects of tensile direction and periodic boundary condition (PBC) on the mechanical properties of single crystal diamond (SCD) under tensile loading, using MD simulations with the second-generation reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential. We found that when the Poisson’s ratio is assumed to be constant under the canonical (NVT) ensemble and the PBC is applied to all directions of X, Y, and Z, each qualitative relation between a mechanical property such as tensile strength or Young’s modulus and the tensile direction is in agreement with both the results calculated by the first principle and by the cleavage energy method. In addition, we found that when the PBC is applied only to the Y direction under the NVT ensemble, each qualitative relation between a mechanical property and the tensile directions is in agreement with the MD results using the Tersoff potential.

Our results indicate that the second-generation REBO potential is also useful for MD simulations on the tension of diamond.

Samples of carbon nanoparticles obtained by different technologies (carbon plasma deposition, irradiation, anodic etching etc.). by Raman scattering and photoluminescence were studied. It was shown that there are carbon nanoparticles which consist of a core containing sp2 bonds and a shell containing sp3 bonds. These particles have a rather intense photoluminescence. We propose the following photoluminescence mechanism of such nanoparticles: first the nanoparticle core absorbs light; further excitation is transmitted to the external cover or environment where photorecombination occurs. This effect occurs when the size of the particles becomes smaller than the size of the wave function excited state of the nanoparticle. The aim of this research is to check this mechanism.

This paper discusses recent progress made in developing an advanced sp2 carbon-based materials that can be produced by wet coating as a thin layer and processed to form highly ordered arrays of Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs) that attach to the substrate on edge with their planes parallel to each other. The fabrication method is based on carbonization of organic molecules spatially preordered in crystalline film on the substrate. This material, named Ribtan, can be used to fabricate GNRs films over large areas that exhibit a very smooth film surface and can form strong covalent bonds to the substrate. The width (film thickness) of Ribtan GNRs can be controlled precisely down to a few nanometers. We demonstrated advantage of Ribtan material for application in supercapacitors as well as feasibility for use in transparent electrodes, solid tribological coatings, and thin film transistors.

We describe a facile and direct method for the functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes with 4’-substituted phenyls and biphenyls. By means of Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis we demonstrate that a simple protocol of a direct chemical grafting in acetonitrile solution of the corresponding diazonium salts at room temperature results in a formation of stable aryl monolayers on carbon nanotubes.

In this work, a determination of the surface energy for hydrogen terminated nanocrystalline diamond grown with microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is presented. Five identical hydrogen terminated nanocrystalline diamond layers of ~150 nm thick are deposited on silicon substrates and examined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the surface groups and possible surface contaminations. In order to evaluate the surface energy, contact angle measurements are performed using the sessile drop method in combination with data analysis based on the ‘Owens, Wendt, Rabel and Kaelble’ method. Four different experimental approaches to evaluate the surface energy of hydrogen terminated nanocrystalline diamond are discussed.

Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) dispersions are obtained after ultrasonication in Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNs) colloidal suspensions and they are found to be stable during several months. Similarly to CNs suspensions, SWNTs/CNs dispersions are used to elaborate multilayered thin films by the layer by layer method. Characterizations of the growth pattern, Raman and optical properties of the films are investigated. The presence of isolated SWNTs in each bi-layer is attested by characteristic Raman and luminescence signals. These films may be interesting for sensing applications.

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we investigated the mechanical properties of graphene and graphite, which contain cluster-type vacancies. We found that as the vacancy size increases, the tensile strength drastically decreases to at least 56% of that of pristine graphene, whereas Young’s modulus hardly changes. In vacancy-containing graphene, we also found that slip deformation followed by fracture occurs under zigzag tension. In general, tensile strength decreases as the size of cluster-type vacancies increases. However, the tensile strength of graphene with a clustered sextuple vacancy increases as the vacancy disappears because slip deformation proceeds. Furthermore, we found that slip deformation by vacancies in graphite occurs less easily than in graphene.

Our results suggest that the shape of vacancies affects the strengths of graphene and graphite.

Oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been prepared following a widely reported two-step purification/oxidation procedure in the presence or absence of a treatment with base (NaOH). The oxidized nanotube samples washed with solvents or base appear close to identical with respect to both appearance and properties. Efficient removal of both metal and carbonaceous impurities and introduction of –COOH groups on the nanotube surface have been demonstrated by AFM, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. Furthermore, persistence of optical properties was confirmed using UV-vis/NIR absorption and NIR photoluminescence spectroscopies.