Open Access Article
Anders L.
Jørgensen‡
a,
David A.
Duncan
b,
Claus F. P.
Kastorp
a,
Line
Kyhl
a,
Zeyuan
Tang
a,
Albert
Bruix
c,
Mie
Andersen
c,
Bjørk
Hammer
a,
Tien-Lin
Lee
b,
Liv
Hornekær
a and
Richard
Balog
*a
aDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. E-mail: balog@phys.au.dk
bDiamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
cChair for Theoretical Chemistry and Catalysis Research Center, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, D-85747 Garching, Germany
First published on 4th June 2019
Functionalization of graphene on Ir(111) is a promising route to modify graphene by chemical means in a controlled fashion at the nanoscale. Yet, the nature of such functionalized sp3 nanodots remains unknown. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations alone cannot differentiate between two plausible structures, namely true graphane and substrate stabilized graphane-like nanodots. These two structures, however, interact dramatically differently with the underlying substrate. Discriminating which type of nanodots forms on the surface is thus of paramount importance for the applications of such prepared nanostructures. By comparing X-ray standing wave measurements against theoretical model structures obtained by DFT calculations we are able to exclude the formation of true graphane nanodots and clearly show the formation graphane-like nanodots.
Previous STM measurements4 demonstrated lateral ordering of H-nanodots and a preference for formation in the HCP regions. However, the significant alteration to the electronic structure of hydrogenated graphene precludes drawing any certain conclusion about the vertical geometric structure of the hydrogenated regions and especially what is occurring below them. DFT calculations predict that both structures are stable with very similar formation energies9 and thus cannot differentiate between them. Hence a spectroscopic probe of the structure is required.
XSW is a highly sensitive method capable of measuring adsorbate-substrate distances with sub-ångstrom resolution.6,10 An XSW field is created by interference between the incoming and the bulk diffracted X-ray waves under Bragg diffraction condition. The standing wave field extending above the surface exhibits the periodicity of the Bragg plane spacing, d. To generate XSW with the (111) reflection of iridium (d = 2.2164 Å), the photon energy is tuned to around 2797 eV. An adsorbate experiencing the XSW field emits electrons with a yield proportional to the standing wave intensity at its position. By measuring the variation of the photoelectron intensity during a photon energy scan around the Bragg energy, which accordingly shifts the phase of the standing wave, we obtain a position specific yield profile for the adsorbate. Utilizing dynamical diffraction theory,10,11 the intensity profile is fitted with two structural parameters referred to as the coherent position PH and the coherent fraction FH. These are related to the relative mean height of the adsorbate and a spread in height around the mean value, respectively.12
= (n + P111) × d111, where n is an integer. Here only n = 1 yields a reasonable height, which is
= 3.41 ± 0.04 Å. This value is in good agreement with the vdW-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations,
= 3.54 Å, when referenced against a projected bulk-like truncation (see ESI† for explanation). Additionally the dependence of coherent fraction and the coherent position on the graphene coverage has been studied previously.14 These studies revealed that the coherent position of sp2 carbon remains unaltered with increasing coverage, but the coherent fraction decreases due to an increasing stress in large graphene areas. When using these results, the F111 value in our study gives coverage of about 0.63 ML, which is lower than the expected 1 ML. The lower coverage estimated from the coherent fraction value may, however, be due to the different growth procedures used in the two studies that consequently lead to different extent of stress in graphene sheet (see methods for graphene growth). We note, however, that for sufficiently large graphene islands the coverage plays negligible role for the hydrogenation studies discussed in the article.
A periodic hydrogen pattern was prepared by exposing the graphene covered Ir(111) to hot H atoms at a sample temperature of 600 K. Fig. 1a shows the corresponding C1s spectrum fitted with two components using a Doniach Sunjic function and a Shirley type background. The two distinguishable components are assigned to sp2 (grey) and sp3 (brown) carbon, representing clean and hydrogenated graphene regions, respectively.15 After the initial XPS measurements we excited the Ir(111) Bragg reflection to measure the XSW-modulated intensity profiles of the individual C1s components. Fig. 1b shows the XSW-modulated C1s intensities of the sp2 and sp3 components in graphene functionalized at high temperature together with their best fits. The coherent position obtained for the sp2 C is P111 = 0.56 ± 0.01, which is clearly very similar to the value found for bare graphene. The adsorption height is then
= 3.46 ± 0.02 Å, corresponding to n = 1. For the sp3 component we measure coherent position P111 = 0.02 ± 0.03, which corresponds to two feasible adsorption heights,
= 2.26 ± 0.07 Å and
= 4.48 ± 0.07 Å, with n = 1 and 2, respectively. Neither of these two heights can be immediately ruled out because two types of H-clusters are being considered here, as depicted in Fig. 2. The graphene-like structure where approximately half of the sp3 C atoms within the cluster interact strongly with the underlying Ir, and are thus positioned closer to the substrate than the clean graphane parts (Fig. 2b) and the real graphane cluster where all of the sp3 C atoms are covalently bound to H atoms, and are thus pushed further away from the substrate than the clean graphene parts (Fig. 2c). To determine which cluster is present on the surface, DFT calculations using optimized moiré supercells and vdW-corrected density functionals were employed. The calculated model structures consist of a 10 × 10 supercell of graphene on a 9 × 9 supercell of iridium with a hydrogen cluster positioned on the HCP region of the graphene/Ir(111) moiré. A wide range of H-clusters were explored, specifically, 13–52H atoms for the graphane cluster and 3–27H atoms for the graphane-like cluster. The theoretical coherent positions and fractions (see ESI,† for more details) and adsorption heights of sp2 and sp3 carbon atoms for all model structures, compared against the experimental values, are summarised in Table 1 and shown in Fig. 3. Comparing the calculated values for the graphane structure model (Fig. 3, green symbols) with the experimentally determined heights (black line) show no agreement at any H-cluster size allowing us to exclude the formation of graphane clusters in this system. The graphane-like structure model (Fig. 3, red symbols), however, agrees remarkably well with the experimental values with specifically strong agreement for the 19H cluster. The corresponding structure of the 19H cluster is depicted in Fig. 2a and b.
) and coherent fraction (F111) derived from the XSW measurements and from the DFT optimized graphane-like and graphane clusters of various sizes
| #H | P 111 |
/Å |
F 111 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sp2 | sp3 | sp2 | sp3 | sp2 | sp3 | |
| DFT-graphane | ||||||
| 13H | 0.60 | 0.69 | 3.54 | 3.75 | 0.97 | 0.75 |
| 22H | 0.61 | 0.77 | 3.57 | 3.92 | 0.97 | 0.75 |
| 37H | 0.62 | 0.78 | 3.59 | 3.95 | 0.96 | 0.72 |
| 52H | 0.63 | 0.84 | 3.61 | 4.07 | 0.93 | 0.72 |
| XSW | ||||||
| 0.56(1) | 0.02(3) | 3.46(2) | 4.47(7) or 2.26(7) | 0.41(2) | 0.43(5) | |
| DFT-graphane-like | ||||||
| 3H | 0.57 | 0.12 | 3.48 | 2.48 | 0.77 | 0.87 |
| 7H | 0.57 | 0.11 | 3.48 | 2.46 | 0.66 | 0.78 |
| 12H | 0.56 | 0.1 | 3.46 | 2.44 | 0.59 | 0.77 |
| 19H | 0.55 | 0.08 | 3.44 | 2.39 | 0.55 | 0.77 |
| 27H | 0.54 | 0.08 | 3.41 | 2.39 | 0.50 | 0.76 |
Our recent work suggests that 5–10% H-coverage per moiré results in the most stable graphane-like structures.7 This coverage corresponds to 10–20H graphane-like clusters in the present study. The 19H cluster found here is thus in excellent agreement with the earlier estimation of the most stable cluster size. All sp2 carbon atoms in Fig. 2 are further divided into four sub-categories depending on the position within the moiré they occupy. Detailed analysis of these sub-groups in the graphane-like model structure (see Table S1 in ESI†) then reveals that the adsorption height of the FCC region, marked silver in Fig. 2, is higher than the same region in bare graphene on iridium, gradually shifting from 3.52 Å to 3.59 Å with increasing cluster size. At the same time the adsorption height of sp2 atoms in the atop region (marked red) decreases from 3.68 Å to 3.61 Å. Thus the heights of the FCC and atop regions have approached each other and on average they have remained at the same mean height as in bare graphene on iridium (≈3.59 Å). Despite this flattening of the FCC and atop region a decrease in the total coherent position of the sp2 atoms, as the H-cluster size increases, is predicted by the DFT calculations, as seen in Fig. 3. This is caused by sp2 atoms at the edge of graphane-like cluster (marked yellow in Fig. 2), which are dragged closer to the substrate due to pinning effect. For the 27H model edge atoms comprise ∼1/3rd of the residual sp2 atoms within the moiré. In fact, due to the adjustment of carbon atom heights in the FCC and ATOP regions in the presence of the graphane-like clusters the shape of hydrogenated graphene approaches the egg box model16 also found for graphene pinned by a periodic array of platinum clusters.17
Though the graphane-like model structure agrees much better with the experiment, we have yet to address the persistent higher position of sp3 atoms appearing in the calculations even for large H-clusters (Table 1 and Fig. 3). We attribute this apparent discrepancy to the fact that in modelled graphane-like cluster structures (12H and 19H), the number of sp3 carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen is slightly higher than those bonded to iridium. Noting, that the selective adsorption height of sp3 carbon atoms involved in C–H bonds and in C–Ir bonds is 2.62 Å and 2.15 Å and thus above and below the experimental value, respectively. In the experiment the ratio between carbon atoms involved in C–H and C–Ir bonds will be lowered due to the variety of clusters structures formed4 but also due to the presence of H-vacancies in the clusters. These vacancies are generally introduced via Eley–Rideal hydrogen abstraction reaction that competes with hydrogen addition reaction during the hydrogenation experiments.18 These effects are clearly not captured in structural parameters obtain from the theoretical model structures were for given value only a single type of H-cluster is considered. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned effects have a tendency to lower the total adsorption height of sp3 atoms. Finally we also comment on the experimental coherent fractions that always appear lower in value than the theoretical ones (see Table 1 for comparison). In general a lower coherent fraction in experiment, compared to DFT, is to be expected due to the latter being estimated for a system at 0 K. The DFT value therefore does not adopt distortions induced by thermal vibrations. Also, a natural variation in the size of the clusters as mentioned above will further decrease the experimental coherent fraction.
The atomic hydrogen beam was formed by passing molecular hydrogen through a hot (2000 K) tungsten capillary. Exposure to atomic hydrogen was conducted at a hydrogen background pressure of pbcg = 4 × 10−7 mbar while keeping the sample at 600 K in front of the beam for about 2 × 20 min. This results in a saturated hydrogen coverage for the given deposition condition. After the hydrogenation process the sample is cooled down to RT.
Footnotes |
| † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Includes complete analysis of adsorption heights for all DFT calculated model structures. See DOI: 10.1039/c9cp02059d |
| ‡ Present address: Newtec Engineering A/S – Stærmosegårdsvej 18, 5000 Odense M, Denmark and University of Southern Denmark, MCI – Alsion 2, 6400 Sønderborg, Denmark. |
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