Highly conductive graphene nanoribbons from the reduction of graphene oxide nanoribbons with lithium aluminium hydride

Abstract

Graphene nanoribbons are highly promising materials for nanoelectronics. They are typically prepared via the oxidative treatment of carbon nanotubes, which first leads to graphene oxide nanoribbons with poor conductivity. In order to be applied in nanoelectronic systems, such graphene oxide nanoribbons must be converted to their conductive counterparts through a reduction process. We show here that using LiAlH₄ as a reducing agent yields highly conductive graphene nanoribbons with conductivity approaching that of carbon nanotubes and significantly surpassing the conductivity of nanoribbons reduced by hydrazine. These highly conductive graphene nanoribbons are expected to be important elements of nanoelectronic devices.