Graphene at interfaces

Strong attractive interactions between extended π-systems of graphene in various graphites have been studied for several decades. However, to date, no effective scalable exfoliation mechanism has been reported to exclusively synthesize dispersible single layer graphene in liquid environments. The first feature of this thesis is to use the repulsive electrostatic effect to modify the geometry of [pi]-[pi] interaction of graphenes against attractive van der Waals interactions. We explored an electrochemical method, inducing the large offset from ideal tight stacked [pi]-[pi] geometry, to generate Hyperstage-1 graphite intercalation compounds. Subsequently, highly functionalized graphenes are spontaneously exfoliated from Hyperstage-1 graphite intercalation compounds by reaction with an aryl diazonium salt solution under electrochemical reducing conditions. The covalent functionalization of graphene successfully provided the appropriate chemical activity/reactivity for the desired applications. Through the reactivity of functional graphene, we developed the fluid-like graphene matrix to attain a superlubric state. In addition, Janus graphenes are simply synthesized by Meisenheimer complexes reactions of hydrocarbon, perfluorocarbon and water-soluble alkyl amines on the surface of graphene at room temperature. This approach opens the door to a rich variety of functional single layer graphenes for applications.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Jeon, Intak

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Timothy M. Swager.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117790

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/117790