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Direct Exfoliation of Graphite into Graphene by Pyrene-Based Molecules as Molecular-Level Wedges: A Tribological View

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Abstract

The van der Waals corrected first-principles approach within density functional theory is performed to investigate the mechanism of direct exfoliation of graphite into graphene by pyrene-based molecules. Our results show that the interaction energies between pyrene-based molecules and graphene are larger than the interlayer inaction energy of bilayer graphene. However, the frictions of pyrene-based molecules on graphene are lower than the interlayer friction of bilayer graphene. The comparisons of adsorption energies and frictions for different molecules on graphene indicate that the size of friction can be affected by the length and type of the additional chain of pyrene-based molecule. These studies illustrate that the PCA can bond to graphene from adsorption energy view, and can slide on the graphene easily, which explains the experiment very well and provides a few of alternative molecules to produce the aqueous dispersions of graphene flakes according to different demands.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB921300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11274280, 11447155), and Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (Grant No. 142300410250).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Laboratory for Quantum Functional Materials of Henan, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Xiaolin Cai, Qiang Sun & Yu Jia

  2. College of Science, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450007, China

    Jianjun Wang

  3. School of Physics and Chemistry, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Xiaolin Cai

  4. School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Runze Chi

  5. Department of Physics, Henan Institute of Education, Zhengzhou, 450046, China

    Youlin Song & Jinming Li

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  1. Xiaolin Cai
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  2. Jianjun Wang
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  3. Runze Chi
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  4. Youlin Song
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  5. Jinming Li
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  6. Qiang Sun
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  7. Yu Jia
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Correspondence to Yu Jia.

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Cai, X., Wang, J., Chi, R. et al. Direct Exfoliation of Graphite into Graphene by Pyrene-Based Molecules as Molecular-Level Wedges: A Tribological View. Tribol Lett 62, 27 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-016-0678-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-016-0678-7

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