N-Doped graphene/C60 covalent hybrid as a new material for energy harvesting applicationsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental and synthetic procedures and compound characterization data, along with Fig. S1-S10 and Tables S1 and S2. See DOI: 10.1039/c8sc02013b

• Main Authors: Barrejón, Myriam, Arellano, Luis M, Gobeze, Habtom B, Gómez-Escalonilla, María J, Fierro, Jose Luis G, D'Souza, Francis, Langa, Fernando
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2041-6520; 2041-6539
• DOI: 10.1039/c8sc02013b

N-Doped graphene (N-G) was chemically functionalized by N -alkylation with the well-known electron acceptor C 60 . The degree of functionalization and the key structural features of the N-G/C 60 hybrid were systematically investigated by a number of techniques including thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies and transmission electron and atomic force microscopies. Absorption and electrochemical studies revealed interactions between the N-G and C 60 while the fluorescence of C 60 within the hybrid was found to be fully quenched. Evidence for the occurrence of excited state charge transfer from the singlet excited C 60 to N-G in the hybrid was obtained from femtosecond transient absorption studies covering the visible-near-IR regions. Electron-pooling experiments performed in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor and a second electron acceptor, methyl viologen, revealed the accumulation of the one-electron reduced product of methyl viologen upon continuous irradiation of the N-G/C 60 nanohybrid, thus revealing the utility of this material in photocatalytic energy harvesting applications. N-Doped graphene (N-G) has been covalently functionalized on the nitrogen with a C 60 derivative. Photophysical studies of the new hybrid and electron pooling experiments reveal the utility of this material in photocatalytic energy harvesting applications.