Successful Boron-Doping of Graphene Nanoribbon

Graphene nanoribbon under the microscope. (Image: University of Basel)

Graphene is one of the most promising materials for improving electronic devices. The two-dimensional carbon sheet exhibits high electron mobility and accordingly has excellent conductivity. Other than usual semiconductors, the material lacks the so-called band gap, an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist.

Therefore, it avoids a situation in which the device is electronically switched off. However, in order to fabricate efficient electronic switches from graphene, it is necessary that the material can be switched ”on” and ”off”.

The solution to this problem lies in trimming the graphene sheet to a ribbon-like shape, named graphene nanoribbon (GNR). Thereby it can be altered to have a band gap whose value is dependent on the width of the shape.

Synthesis on Gold Surface

To tune the band gap in order for the graphene nanoribbons to act like a well-established silicon semiconductor, the ribbons are being doped. To that end, the researchers intentionally introduce impurities into pure material for the purpose of modulating its electrical properties.

While nitrogen doping has been realized, boron-doping has remained unexplored. Subsequently, the electronic and chemical properties have stayed unclear thus far.

Prof. Dr. Ernst Meyer and Dr. Shigeki Kawai from the Department of Physics at the University of Basel, assisted by researchers from Japanese and Finnish Universities, have succeeded in synthesizing boron-doped graphene nanoribbons with various widths.

They used an on-surface chemical reaction with a newly synthesized precursor molecule on an atomically clean gold surface. The chemical structures were directly resolved by state-of-the-art atomic force microscopy at low temperature.

Towards a Nitrogen Oxide-Sensor

The doped site of the boron atom was unambiguously confirmed and its doping ratio – the number of boron atoms relative to the total number of atoms within the nanoribbon – lay at 4.8 atomic percent. By dosing nitric oxide gas, the chemical property known as the Lewis acidity could also be confirmed.

The doped nitric oxide gas was highly-selectively adsorbed on the boron site. This measurement indicates that the boron-doped graphene nanoribbon can be used for an ultra-high sensitive gas sensor for nitrogen oxides which are currently a hot topic in the industry as being highly damaging to the environment.

Original Source
S. Kawai, S. Saito, O. Oshima, S. Yamaguchi, A. S. Foster, P. Spiker, and E. Meyer
Atomically controlled substitutional boron-doping of graphene nanoribbons
Nature Communications, 6. 8098 (2015), doi: 10.1038/ncomms9098

Further Information
Professor Ernst Meyer, University of Basel, Department of Physics, Tel. +41 61 267 37 24, email: ernst.meyer@unibas.ch

https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/Succesful-Boron-Doping-of…

Media Contact

Olivia Poisson Universität Basel

All latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy

This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.

innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

EEG ad tDCS chould serve as the basis of therapeutic strategies to combat newrological disorders. Image Credit: Institute of Science Tokyo

Using Electroencephalography to Improve Language Disorder Treatments

Researchers work towards an inexpensive and portable solution for treating aphasia  Electroencephalography (EEG) may offer a more accessible alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for guiding transcranial direct current…

The BioSCape team is poctured with NASA and South African aircraft. Image Credit: Jeremey Shelton/Fishwater Films

Measuring Life on Earth from Space: A Global Research Project

Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project funded by NASA and co-led by UC Merced civil and…

NEJM study finds patients with blockages in medium-sized vessels in the brain who had endovascular treatment did not do any better and did not see any improvement compared to patients who had the standard of care. Dr. Michael Hill, MD, Dr. Mayank Goyal, MD, PhD (right). Image Credit: Riley Brandt, University of Calgary

Best Approach for Stroke in Medium-Sized Blood Vessels Identified

Calgary’s Stroke Program advancing science to improve care, treatment and outcomes for patients  University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute researchers with the Calgary Stroke Program at Foothills Medical Centre revolutionized…