Structural transformations in chemically modified graphene

Abstract

In this article, we review our efforts to continuously tune mechanical and thermal properties in multilayer chemically modified graphene (CMG) films. An alteration of the graphene lattice by functional groups, by defects created during reduction, or by defect re-crystallization is used to control CMG mechanical and thermal properties. We attribute a notable increase in Young's modulus and film strength to an emerging network of sp2–sp3 crosslinks established between graphene layers. Control over the film stress and strength enabled us to dramatically improve the performance of radio frequency CMG resonators by fine tuning the fabrication process.