Graphene has emerged as a promising material for different applications due to the unique electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties. The investigations of potentials of chemically-modified graphene is an interesting new direction of graphene research. We report here on a benzyne-based modification of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown large area graphene.  Graphene layers were grown on Cu catalytic substrates using ambient-pressure CVD. A reaction of o-trimethylsilylphentyl triflate with cesium fluoride leads to the formation of benzyne-graphene adduct. Using this reaction we successfully functionalized graphene via attaching benzene rings in the �vertical� (normal to graphene layer plane) direction.  We demonstrated successful positioning of the same structural group to the surface of highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite. Successful functionalization of graphene and graphite has been confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis.

Synthesis and characterization of benzyne-functionalized graphene and graphite

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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