title: Observing high-pressure chemistry in graphene bubbles.
abstract: Using IR spectroscopy, high-pressure reactions of molecules were observed in liquids entrapped by graphene nanobubbles formed at the graphene-diamond interface. Nanobubbles formed on graphene as a result of thermally induced bonding of its edges with diamond are highly impermeable, thus providing a good sealing of solvents within. Owing to the optical transparency of graphene and diamond, high-pressure chemical reactions within the bubbles can be probed with vibrational spectroscopy. By monitoring the conformational changes of pressure-sensitive molecules, the pressure within the nanobubble can be calibrated as a function of temperature and it is about 1 GPa at 600 K. The polymerization of buckministerfullerene (C60 ), which is symmetrically forbidden under ambient conditions, is observed to proceed in well-defined stages in the pressurized nanobubbles.
authors.affiliation: Graphene Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117543 (Singapore); NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Life Sciences #05-01, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456 (Singapore).
authors.forename: Candy Haley Yi Xuan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Milos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nesladek
authors.forename: Kian Ping
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Loh
keywords: anvil cells; conformational changes; diamond; graphene; high pressure