Among organic electronic materials, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) offer extraordinary versatility as next-generation semiconducting materials for nanoelectronics and optoelectronics due to their tunable properties, including charge-carrier mobility, optical absorption, and electronic bandgap, which are uniquely defined by their chemical structures. Although planar GNRs have been predominantly considered until now, nonplanarity can be an additional parameter to modulate their properties without changing the aromatic core. Herein, we report theoretical and experimental studies on two GNR structures with "cove"-type edges, having an identical aromatic core but with alkyl side chains at different peripheral positions. The theoretical results indicate that installment of alkyl chains at the innermost positions of the "cove"-type edges can "bend" the peripheral rings of the GNR through steric repulsion between aromatic protons and the introduced alkyl chains. This structural distortion is theoretically predicted to reduce the bandgap by up to 0.27 eV, which is corroborated by experimental comparison of thus synthesized planar and nonplanar GNRs through UV-vis-near-infrared absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. Our results extend the possibility of engineering GNR properties, adding subtle structural distortion as a distinct and potentially highly versatile parameter.

Bandgap Engineering of Graphene Nanoribbons by Control over Structural Distortion / Hu, Yunbin; Xie, Peng; DE CORATO, Marzio; Ruini, Alice; Zhao, Shen; Meggendorfer, Felix; Straasø, Lasse Arnt; Rondin, Loic; Simon, Patrick; Li, Juan; Finley, Jonathan J.; Hansen, Michael Ryan; Lauret, Jean-Sébastien; Molinari, Elisa; Feng, Xinliang; Barth, Johannes V.; Palma, Carlos-Andres; Prezzi, Deborah; Müllen, Klaus; Narita, Akimitsu. - In: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. - ISSN 0002-7863. - 140:25(2018), pp. 7803-7809. [10.1021/jacs.8b02209]

Bandgap Engineering of Graphene Nanoribbons by Control over Structural Distortion

DE CORATO, MARZIO;RUINI, Alice;MOLINARI, Elisa;PREZZI, Deborah;
2018

Abstract

Among organic electronic materials, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) offer extraordinary versatility as next-generation semiconducting materials for nanoelectronics and optoelectronics due to their tunable properties, including charge-carrier mobility, optical absorption, and electronic bandgap, which are uniquely defined by their chemical structures. Although planar GNRs have been predominantly considered until now, nonplanarity can be an additional parameter to modulate their properties without changing the aromatic core. Herein, we report theoretical and experimental studies on two GNR structures with "cove"-type edges, having an identical aromatic core but with alkyl side chains at different peripheral positions. The theoretical results indicate that installment of alkyl chains at the innermost positions of the "cove"-type edges can "bend" the peripheral rings of the GNR through steric repulsion between aromatic protons and the introduced alkyl chains. This structural distortion is theoretically predicted to reduce the bandgap by up to 0.27 eV, which is corroborated by experimental comparison of thus synthesized planar and nonplanar GNRs through UV-vis-near-infrared absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. Our results extend the possibility of engineering GNR properties, adding subtle structural distortion as a distinct and potentially highly versatile parameter.
2018
15-giu-2018
140
25
7803
7809
Bandgap Engineering of Graphene Nanoribbons by Control over Structural Distortion / Hu, Yunbin; Xie, Peng; DE CORATO, Marzio; Ruini, Alice; Zhao, Shen; Meggendorfer, Felix; Straasø, Lasse Arnt; Rondin, Loic; Simon, Patrick; Li, Juan; Finley, Jonathan J.; Hansen, Michael Ryan; Lauret, Jean-Sébastien; Molinari, Elisa; Feng, Xinliang; Barth, Johannes V.; Palma, Carlos-Andres; Prezzi, Deborah; Müllen, Klaus; Narita, Akimitsu. - In: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. - ISSN 0002-7863. - 140:25(2018), pp. 7803-7809. [10.1021/jacs.8b02209]
Hu, Yunbin; Xie, Peng; DE CORATO, Marzio; Ruini, Alice; Zhao, Shen; Meggendorfer, Felix; Straasø, Lasse Arnt; Rondin, Loic; Simon, Patrick; Li, Juan; Finley, Jonathan J.; Hansen, Michael Ryan; Lauret, Jean-Sébastien; Molinari, Elisa; Feng, Xinliang; Barth, Johannes V.; Palma, Carlos-Andres; Prezzi, Deborah; Müllen, Klaus; Narita, Akimitsu
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
jacs.8b02209.pdf

Accesso riservato

Tipologia: Versione pubblicata dall'editore
Dimensione 3.15 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.15 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
POST_PRINTjacs.8b02209.pdf

Open access

Tipologia: Versione dell'autore revisionata e accettata per la pubblicazione
Dimensione 3.25 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.25 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

Licenza Creative Commons
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1164676
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 11
  • Scopus 66
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 63
social impact