Control of Conductivity in Graphene by Formation of Defects

• Due to their large surface areas, the conductivity of graphene and carbonnano-sheets depends strongly on their chemical environment. This is thebase for future environmental sensors containing graphene sheets. Here, abinitiocalculations propose a possibility of conductivity increase. In theexperiment, a 1-2 orders of magnitude increase of the conductivity isobserved experimentally on sub-nanometTe carbon nano-sheets by using anin-situ nano-manipulation set-up. The conductivity of the graphene sheetswas assessed from first-principle simulations. Insertion of defects in thegraphene sheets can lead to a strong increase of the conductivity of singlegraphene sheets. To study this result experimentally, we carried outconductivity measurements on sub-nanometre graphene nano-sheets that aredeposited on W -substrates by radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemicalvapour deposition. This deposition process creates free-standingmicrometer-sized carbon nano-sheets with sub-nanometre thickness. Thesenano-sheets were exposed to an acid treatment. It has been shown recentlythat such acid treatment creates defects in these sheets. Using a nanomanipulatorinside a scanning electron microscope, we individuallycontacted the nano-sheets and measured their resistance as a function oftheir functionalization. From more than 1000 measurements we obtain a 1-2order of magnitude increase of conductivity in the functionalised carbonnano-sheets as compared to just water treated or untreated carbon nanosheets.This result corresponds well to the conductivity change obtainedfrom theory. This study makes it possible to create environmental sensorsbased on graphene like carbon nano-sheets.

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