Atomic structure of reduced graphene oxide.
Using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, we identify the specific atomic scale features in chemically derived graphene monolayers that originate from the oxidation-reduction treatment of graphene. The layers are found to comprise defect-free graphene areas with sizes of a few nanometers interspersed with defect areas dominated by clustered pentagons and heptagons. Interestingly, all carbon atoms in these defective areas are bonded to three neighbors maintaining a planar sp(2)-configuration, which makes them undetectable by spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, we observe that they introduce significant in-plane distortions and strain in the surrounding lattice.
Gómez-Navarro
Cristina
C
Max-Planck-Institut fur Festkorperforschung, Stuttgart, Germany. cristina.gomez@uam.es
Meyer
Jannik C
JC
Sundaram
Ravi S
RS
Chuvilin
Andrey
A
Kurasch
Simon
S
Burghard
Marko
M
Kern
Klaus
K
Kaiser
Ute
U