Large-area Si-doped graphene: controllable synthesis and enhanced molecular sensing.

Large-area Si-doped graphene (SiG) is controllably synthesized for the first time. A much-enhanced molecular-sensing performance is achieved when SiG is used as a probing surface. This will open up opportunities for developing high-performance sensors that are able to detect trace amounts of organic and fluorescent molecules. Furthermore, many fascinating properties predicted by theoretical calculations can be tested based on the as-synthesized SiG.

Non-oxidative intercalation and exfoliation of graphite by Brønsted acids.

Graphite intercalation compounds are formed by inserting guest molecules or ions between sp(2)-bonded carbon layers. These compounds are interesting as synthetic metals and as precursors to graphene. For many decades it has been thought that graphite intercalation must involve host-guest charge transfer, resulting in partial oxidation, reduction or covalent modification of the graphene sheets. Here, we revisit this concept and show that graphite can be reversibly intercalated by non-oxidizing Brønsted acids (phosphoric, sulfuric, dichloroacetic and alkylsulfonic acids). The products are mixtures of graphite and first-stage intercalation compounds. X-ray photoelectron and vibrational spectra indicate that the graphene layers are not oxidized or reduced in the intercalation process. These observations are supported by density functional theory calculations, which indicate a dipolar interaction between the guest molecules and the polarizable graphene sheets. The intercalated graphites readily exfoliate in dimethylformamide to give suspensions of crystalline single- and few-layer graphene sheets.

Band gap engineering and layer-by-layer mapping of selenium-doped molybdenum disulfide.

Ternary two-dimensional dichalcogenide alloys exhibit compositionally modulated electronic structure, and hence, control of dopant concentration within each individual layer of these compounds provides a powerful tool to efficiently modify their physical and chemical properties. The main challenge arises when quantifying and locating the dopant atoms within each layer in order to better understand and fine-tune the desired properties. Here we report the synthesis of molybdenum disulfide substitutionally doped with a broad range of selenium concentrations, resulting in over 10% optical band gap modulations in atomic layers. Chemical analysis using Z-contrast imaging provides direct maps of the dopant atom distribution in individual MoS2 layers and hence a measure of the local optical band gaps. Furthermore, in a bilayer structure, the dopant distribution is imaged layer-by-layer. This work demonstrates that each layer in the bilayer system contains similar local Se concentrations, randomly distributed, providing new insights into the growth mechanism and alloying behavior in two-dimensional dichalcogenide atomic layers. The results show that growth of uniform, ternary, two-dimensional dichalcogenide alloy films with tunable electronic properties is feasible.

Controlled synthesis and transfer of large-area WS2 sheets: from single layer to few layers.

The isolation of few-layered transition metal dichalcogenides has mainly been performed by mechanical and chemical exfoliation with very low yields. In this account, a controlled thermal reduction-sulfurization method is used to synthesize large-area (~1 cm(2)) WS2 sheets with thicknesses ranging from monolayers to a few layers. During synthesis, WOx thin films are first deposited on Si/SiO2 substrates, which are then sulfurized (under vacuum) at high temperatures (750-950 °C). An efficient route to transfer the synthesized WS2 films onto different substrates such as quartz and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids has been satisfactorily developed using concentrated HF. Samples with different thicknesses have been analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and TEM, and their photoluminescence properties have been evaluated. We demonstrated the presence of single-, bi-, and few-layered WS2 on as-grown samples. It is well known that the electronic structure of these materials is very sensitive to the number of layers, ranging from indirect band gap semiconductor in the bulk phase to direct band gap semiconductor in monolayers. This method has also proved successful in the synthesis of heterogeneous systems of MoS2 and WS2 layers, thus shedding light on the controlled production of heterolayered devices from transition metal chalcogenides.

Extraordinary room-temperature photoluminescence in triangular WS2 monolayers.

Individual monolayers of metal dichalcogenides are atomically thin two-dimensional crystals with attractive physical properties different from those of their bulk counterparts. Here we describe the direct synthesis of WS2 monolayers with triangular morphologies and strong room-temperature photoluminescence (PL). The Raman response as well as the luminescence as a function of the number of S-W-S layers is also reported. The PL weakens with increasing number of layers due to a transition from direct band gap in a monolayer to indirect gap in multilayers. The edges of WS2 monolayers exhibit PL signals with extraordinary intensity, around 25 times stronger than that at the platelet's center. The structure and chemical composition of the platelet edges appear to be critical for PL enhancement.

Nitrogen-doped graphene: beyond single substitution and enhanced molecular sensing.

Graphene is a two-dimensional network in which sp(2)-hybridized carbon atoms are arranged in two different triangular sub-lattices (A and B). By incorporating nitrogen atoms into graphene, its physico-chemical properties could be significantly altered depending on the doping configuration within the sub-lattices. Here, we describe the synthesis of large-area, highly-crystalline monolayer N-doped graphene (NG) sheets via atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition, yielding a unique N-doping site composed of two quasi-adjacent substitutional nitrogen atoms within the same graphene sub-lattice (N(2)(AA)). Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS) of NG revealed the presence of localized states in the conduction band induced by N(2)(AA)-doping, which was confirmed by ab initio calculations. Furthermore, we demonstrated for the first time that NG could be used to efficiently probe organic molecules via a highly improved graphene enhanced Raman scattering.