A new on-surface synthetic pathway to 5-armchair graphene nanoribbons on Cu(111) surfacesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7fd00129k

We report a new pathway to fabricate armchair graphene nanoribbons with five carbon atoms in the cross section (5-AGNRs) on Cu(111) surfaces. Instead of using haloaromatics as precursors, the 5-AGNRs are synthesized via a surface assisted decarboxylation reaction of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic...

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Main Authors: Sun, Kewei, Ji, Penghui, Zhang, Haiming, Niu, Kaifeng, Li, Ling, Chen, Aixi, Li, Qing, Müllen, Klaus, Chi, Lifeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We report a new pathway to fabricate armchair graphene nanoribbons with five carbon atoms in the cross section (5-AGNRs) on Cu(111) surfaces. Instead of using haloaromatics as precursors, the 5-AGNRs are synthesized via a surface assisted decarboxylation reaction of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA). The on-surface decarboxylation of PTCDA can produce extended copper-perylene chains on Cu(111) that are able to transform into graphene nanoribbons after annealing at higher temperatures ( ca. 630 K). Due to the low yield ( ca. 20%) of GNRs upon copper extrusion, various gases are introduced to assist the transformation of the copper-perylene chains into the GNRs. Typical reducing gases (H 2 and CO) and oxidizing gas (O 2 ) are evaluated for their performance in breaking aryl-Cu bonds. This method enriches on-surface protocols for the synthesis of AGNRs using non-halogen containing precursors.
ISSN:1359-6640
1364-5498
DOI:10.1039/c7fd00129k