Enhanced stability of hydrogen atoms at the graphene/graphane interface of nanoribbons

Abstract

The thermal stability of graphene/graphane nanoribbons (GGNRs) is investigated using density functional theory. It is found that the energy barriers for the diffusion of hydrogen atoms on the zigzag and armchair interfaces of GGNRs are 2.86 and 3.17 eV, respectively, while the diffusion barrier of an isolated H atom on pristine graphene was only ~0.3 eV. These results unambiguously demonstrate that the thermal stability of GGNRs can be enhanced significantly by increasing the hydrogen diffusion barriers through graphene/graphane interface engineering. This may provide new insights for viable applications of GGNRs.

13 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables to appear in Appl. Phys. Lett

References in corpus (5)

• Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films
• Control of graphene's properties by reversible hydrogenation
• Graphane: a two-dimensional hydrocarbon
• Modeling of hydrogen and hydroxyl group migration on graphene
• Electronic and magnetic properties of superlattices of graphene/graphane nanoribbons with different edge hydrogenation

Cited by in corpus (8)

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• Phase separation of hydrogen atoms adsorbed on graphene and the smoothness of the graphene-graphane interface
• First-principles modeling of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons reduction
• Magnetic impurities in graphane with dehydrogenated channels
• Patterning graphene nanostripes in substrate-supported functionalized graphene: A promising route to integrated, robust, and superior transistors
• Electrostatic forces above graphene nanoribbons and edges interpreted as partly hydrogen-free