Nanoscale Assembly & Chemical Modification of Carbon Nanotubes & Graphene

Graphitic carbon nanomaterials, including fullerene, carbon nanotubes and graphene, attract enormous research attention for their outstanding material properties along with molecular scale dimension. The optimized utilization of those graphitic carbons in various application fields inevitably requires the subtle controllability of their structures and properties. In this regard, the substitutional doping of heteroelements, such as Boron or Nitrogen, into the graphitic plane offers robust and reliable solution. In this presentation, our recent research achievements associated to nanoscale molecular scale assembly of B- or N-doped graphitic carbon nanomaterials will be presented [1,2]. In our approach, graphitic carbons can be efficiently processed into various three-dimensional structures via self-assembly principles. For instance, vertical carbon nanotube forest can be grown from graphene film surface to constitute three-dimensional carbon hybrid materials [3]. Those carbon assembled structures with extremely large surface and high electro-conductivity are potentially useful for catalysis, energy storage and so on. Aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide shows liquid crystalline phase, whose spontaneous molecular ordering is useful for display or fiber spinning [4,5]. In addition, the substitutional doping of graphitic carbon with B- or N- was achieved via pre- or post-synthetic treatment. The resultant chemically modified graphitic carbons with tunable workfunction and remarkably enhanced surface activity could be employed for organic solar cells, organic light emitting diodes, nanocomposites for improved functionalities and device performances [6,7].

References

1. S. H. Lee, D. H. Lee, W. J. Lee and S. O. Kim, Adv. Funct. Mater. 21, 1338 (2011).
2. U. N. Maiti, W. J. Lee, J. M. Lee, Y. T. Oh, .J. Y. Kim, J. E. Kim, J. Shim, T. H. Han and S. O. Kim, Adv. Mater. 26, 40 (2014).
3. D. H. Lee, J. E. Kim, T. H. Han, J. W. Hwang, S. Jeon, S.-Y. Choi, S. H. Hong, W. J. Lee, R. S. Ruoff and S. O. Kim, Adv. Mater. 22, 1247 (2010).
4. J. E. Kim, T. H. Han, S. H. Lee, J. Y. Kim, C. W. Ahn, J. M. Yun and S. O. Kim, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 3043 (2011).
5. J. Y. Kim and S. O. Kim, Nat. Mater. 13, 325 (2014).
6. L. Lu, T. Xu, W. Chen, J. M. Lee, Z. Lou, I. H. Jung, H. I. Park, S. O. Kim and L. Yu, Nano Lett. 13, 2365 (2013).
7. D. J. Li, U. N. Maiti, J. W. Lim, D. S. Choi, W. J. Lee, Y. T. Oh, G. Y. Lee and S. O. Kim, Nano Lett. 14, 1228 (2014).