Electronic structure of oxygen-terminated zigzag graphene nanoribbons: A hybrid density functional theory study

Abstract

The size-dependent electronic structure of oxygen-terminated zigzag graphene nanoribbons is investigated using standard density functional theory (DFT) with an exchange-correlation functional of the generalized gradient approximation form as well as hybrid DFT calculations with two different exchange-correlation functionals. Hybrid DFT calculations, which typically provide more accurate band gaps than standard DFT, are found to predict semiconducting behavior in oxygen-terminated zigzag graphene nanoribbons; this is in distinct contrast to standard DFT with (semi)local exchange-correlation functionals, which have been widely employed in previous studies and shown to predict metallic behavior. (Semi)local exchange-correlation functionals employed in standard DFT calculations cause unphysical delocalization of lone pairs from the oxygen atoms due to self-interaction errors and lead to metallic behavior. Hybrid DFT calculations do not suffer from this spurious effect and produce a clear size-dependent band gap. Appreciable fundamental band gaps $(\ensuremath{\sim}1\text{ }\text{eV})$ are found for the smallest ribbons (two zigzag rows); the band gap decreases rapidly with increasing ribbon width, resulting eventually in a zero band-gap semiconductor at about 4--5 zigzag rows. This finding could have useful implications for molecular electronics, in particular, since oxygen-terminated zigzag graphene nanoribbons are thermodynamically stable unlike their hydrogenated counterparts. More generally, through a concrete example, this study suggests caution when employing (semi)local functionals in DFT studies of functionalized graphene/graphene derivatives when the functional groups contain electron lone pairs.