Size, Structure, and Helical Twist of Graphene Nanoribbons Controlled by Confinement in Carbon Nanotubes

Chamberlain, Thomas W.; Biskupek, Johannes; Rance, Graham A.; Chuvilin, Andrey; Alexander, Thomas J.; Bichoutskaia, Elena; Kaiser, Ute; Khlobystov, Andrei N.

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) act as efficient nanoreactors, templating the assembly of sulfur-terminated graphene nanoribbons (S-GNRs) with different sizes, structures, and conformations. Spontaneous formation of nanoribbons from small sulfur-containing molecules is efficiently triggered by heat treatment or by an 80 keV electron beam. S-GNRs form readily in CNTs with internal diameters between 1 and 2 nm. Outside of this optimum range, nanotubes narrower than 1 nm do not have sufficient space to accommodate the 2D structure of S-GNRs, while nanotubes wider than 2 nm do not provide efficient confinement for unidirectional S-GNR growth, thus neither can support nanoribbon formation. Theoretical calculations show that the thermodynamic stability of nanoribbons is dependent on the S-GNR edge structure and, to a lesser extent, the width of the nanoribbon. For nanoribbons of similar widths, the polythiaperipolycene-type edges of zigzag S-GNRs are more stable than the polythiophene-type edges of armchair S-GNRs. Both the edge structure and the width define the electronic properties of S-GNRs which can vary widely from metallic to semiconductor to insulator. The encapsulated S-GNRs exhibit diverse dynamic behavior, including rotation, translation, and helical twisting inside the nanotube, which offers a mechanism for control of the electronic properties of the graphene nanoribbon via confinement at the nanoscale.

Citation

Chamberlain, T. W., Biskupek, J., Rance, G. A., Chuvilin, A., Alexander, T. J., Bichoutskaia, E., Kaiser, U., & Khlobystov, A. N. (2012). Size, Structure, and Helical Twist of Graphene Nanoribbons Controlled by Confinement in Carbon Nanotubes. ACS Nano, 6(5), 3943–3953. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn300137j

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 6, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Apr 18, 2012
• Publication Date: May 22, 2012
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Journal: Acs Nano
• Print ISSN: 1936-0851
• Electronic ISSN: 1936-086X
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 3943–3953
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/nn300137j
• Keywords: carbon nanotube, graphene nanoribbon, nanoreactor, host−guest structure, aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23521464
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/nn300137j