title: Friedel-Crafts acylation on graphene.
abstract: There is an excitement around graphene as a promising new material for nanotechnological and nanoarchitectonic applications. Despite the low chemical reactivity of graphene, chemical functionalization remains a prominent and viable solution to tailor its chemical, physical, and electronic properties. Herein, we report the covalent functionalization of reduced graphene oxide through Friedel-Crafts reactions under mild conditions of polyphosphoric-acid/phosphorus-pentoxide and 4-aminobenzoic acid. Successful functionalization was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The success of the Friedel-Crafts reaction provides an important expansion of the synthetic "toolbox" for future modifications of graphene towards the specific needs of different applications.
authors.affiliation: School of Physical and Mathematical Science, Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chun Kiang
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pumera