New techniques to manipulate the electronic properties of few layer 2D materials, unveiling new physical phenomena as well as possibilities for new device applications have brought renewed interest to these systems. Therefore, the quest for reproducible methods for the large scale synthesis, as well as the manipulation, characterization and deeper understanding of these structures is a very active field of research. We here report the production of nitrogen doped bilayer graphene in a fast single step (2.5 minutes), at reduced temperatures (760 °C) using microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MW-PECVD). Raman spectroscopy confirmed that nitrogen-doped bilayer structures were produced by this method. XPS analysis showed that we achieved control of the concentration of nitrogen dopants incorporated into the final samples. We have performed state of the art parameter-free simulations to investigate the cause of an unexpected splitting of the XPS signal as the concentration of nitrogen defects increased. We show that this splitting is due to the formation of interlayer bonds mediated by nitrogen defects on the layers of the material. The occurrence of these bonds may result in very specific electronic and mechanical properties of the bilayer structures.
16 October 2017 in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) grown by spray pyrolysis have been decorated with silver nanoparticles prepared via the silver mirror reaction. Good dispersion of silver nanostructures was obtained on the surface of MWCNTs, resulting in an efficient and simple wet chemistry method for increasing the reactivity of the carbon nanotubes surfaces. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy showed the orientations of the crystallography planes of the anchored silver nanoparticles and revealed their size distribution. Raman spectroscopy results confirm that the composite material preserves the integrity of the MWCNTs. Scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy were also employed for sample characterization.
26 January 2012 in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Phosphorus-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (P-MWNTs) have been successfully synthesized by spray pyrolysis methods using a solution of ferrocene and triphenylphosphine in toluene. Electron microscopy images reveal corrugated tubes with a special morphology, similar to a carbon necklace. P-MWNTs are shorter compared to undoped tubes grown in the same conditions using ferrocene and toluene as precursors. Raman spectroscopy characterization suggests the formation of more defective tubes as the phosphorus in the precursor solution was increased. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealing the chemical environment of the phosphorus atoms clearly indicates the presence of substitutional phosphorus in the nanotubes.