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Formation of Two-Dimensional Micelles on Graphene: Multi-Scale Theoretical and Experimental Study
ACS Nano, Volume: 11, Issue: 3, Pages: 3404 - 3412
Swansea University Author:
Bernard Mostert
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DOI (Published version): 10.1021/acsnano.7b01071
Abstract
Graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials possess outstanding electronic and mechanical properties, chemical stability, and high surface area. However, to realize graphene’s potential for a range of applications in materials science and nanotechnology there is a need to understand and cont...
| Published in: | ACS Nano |
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| ISSN: | 1936-0851 1936-086X |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38477 |
| Abstract: |
Graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials possess outstanding electronic and mechanical properties, chemical stability, and high surface area. However, to realize graphene’s potential for a range of applications in materials science and nanotechnology there is a need to understand and control the interaction of graphene with tailored high-performance surfactants designed to facilitate the preparation, manipulation, and functionalization of new graphene systems. Here we report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the surface structure and dynamics on graphene of pyrene-oligoethylene glycol (OEG) -based surfactants, which have previously been shown to disperse carbon nanotubes in water. Molecular self-assembly of the surfactants on graphitic surfaces is experimentally monitored and optimized using a graphene coated quartz crystal microbalance in ambient and vacuum environments. Real-space nanoscale resolution nanomechanical and topographical mapping of submonolayer surfactant coverage, using ultrasonic and atomic force microscopies both in ambient and ultrahigh vacuum, reveals complex, multilength-scale self-assembled structures. Molecular dynamics simulations show that at the nanoscale these structures, on atomically flat graphitic surfaces, are dependent upon the surfactant OEG chain length and are predicted to display a previously unseen class of 2D self-arranged “starfish” micelles (2DSMs). While three-dimensional micelles are well-known for their widespread uses ranging from microreactors to drug-delivery vehicles, these 2DSMs possess the highly desirable and tunable characteristics of high surface affinity coupled with unimpeded mobility, opening up strategies for processing and functionalizing 2D materials. |
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| Keywords: |
2D micelles; graphene; molecular dynamics; scanning probe microscopy; surfactants |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Issue: |
3 |
| Start Page: |
3404 |
| End Page: |
3412 |