Robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet effectively induced by OH groups.

Tao Tang,Yuan Liu,Qinghua Xu,Xiangang Wan,Fuchi Liu,Nujiang Tang,Yongping Zheng,Youwei Du

doi:10.1038/srep08448

Abstract

Inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet is very difficult, and is one of the greatest challenges in the study of physical chemistry of graphene materials. Theoretical studies predicted that introduction of a kind of sp3-type defects formed by OH groups is an effective pathway to achieve this goal [Boukhvalov, D. W. & Katsnelson, M. I. ACS Nano 5, 2440–2446 (2011)]. Here we demonstrate that OH groups can efficiently induce robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet. We show that the inducing efficiency can reach as high as 217 μB per 1000 OH groups. More interestingly, the magnetic moments are robust and can survive even at 900°C. Our findings highlight the importance of OH group as an effective sp3-type candidate for inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet.

Highlights

Robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet effectively induced by OH groups
It has been generally accepted that (i) oxygen groups present on graphene oxide (GO) mainly in forms of epoxy, OH, carbonyl, and carboxyl groups; and (ii) most epoxy and OH groups lie on the basal plane of the graphene sheet, and carbonyl and carboxyl groups can only sit at the edge or vacancy sites[38,39]
Prior to any discussions about GO, we should mention that previous experimental results of the magnetic properties of GO via chemical exfoliation of graphite are multifarious[15,16], which may result from the great differences in the content, type, and distribution of oxygen groups depending on the starting graphite material and oxidative conditions[40,41]

Summary

Introduction

Robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet effectively induced by OH groups. Inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet is very difficult, and is one of the greatest challenges in the study of physical chemistry of graphene materials. Our findings highlight the importance of OH group as an effective sp3-type candidate for inducing robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet. Higher spin density is expected by this approach, and which is considered as hitherto the most promising approach to induce robust magnetic moments on the graphene sheet[8] This approach has been realized by F or H adatoms[8,18,19,20,21,22,23]. It is important to search another sp3-type alternative that can effectively induce robust magnetic moments on the basal plane of the graphene sheet

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Results

Conclusion