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Category: advanced materials

BSA 11-07: Processing of Monolayer Materials via Interfacial Reactions

BNL Reference Number: BSA 11-07

Patent Status: Provisional filed on May 11, 2011

Summary

Intercalation of foreign species into layered materials is known to alter the effect of the layers on each others’ electrical and optical properties. This concept has been extended to intercalation of metal atoms between a substrate and a monolayer of graphene atop it, and shown to effectively “tune” the interaction between the substrate and the graphene layer. Here the inventors have intercalated reactive species between the graphene overlayer and its substrate. This intercalation restores the graphene to its intrinsic properties, electronically decoupling it from the substrate, and provides a confined space in which to perform chemical reactions.

Description

A method of forming and processing of graphene is disclosed based on exposure and selective intercalation of the partially graphene-covered metal substrate with atomic or molecular intercalation species such as oxygen and nitrogen oxide. The process of intercalation lifts the strong metal-carbon coupling and restores the characteristic Dirac behavior of isolated monolayer graphene. The interface of graphene with metals or metal-decorated substrates also provides for controlled chemical reactions based on novel functionality of the confined space between a metal surface and a graphene sheet.

Journal Publication

• Chemistry under Cover: Tuning Metal−Graphene Interaction by Reactive Intercalation (.pdf)

Have Questions?

For more information about this technology, contact Kimberley Elcess, (631) 344-4151.