Functional carbon nanosheets prepared from hexayne amphiphile monolayers at room temperature.
Carbon nanostructures that feature two-dimensional extended nanosheets are important components for technological applications such as high-performance composites, lithium-ion storage, photovoltaics and nanoelectronics. Chemical functionalization would render such structures better processable and more suited for tailored applications, but typically this is precluded by the high temperatures needed to prepare the nanosheets. Here, we report direct access to functional carbon nanosheets of uniform thickness at room temperature. We used amphiphiles that contain hexayne segments as metastable carbon precursors and self-assembled these into ordered monolayers at the air/water interface. Subsequent carbonization by ultraviolet irradiation in ambient conditions resulted in the quantitative carbonization of the hexayne sublayer. Carbon nanosheets prepared in this way retained their surface functionalization and featured an sp(2)-rich amorphous carbon structure comparable to that usually obtained on annealing above 800 °C. Moreover, they exhibited a molecularly defined thickness of 1.9 nm, were mechanically self-supporting over several micrometres and had macroscopic lateral dimensions on the order of centimetres.
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Materials, Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Materials, EPFL STI IMX LMOM, MXG 037, Station 12, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Stephen
S
Schrettl
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Cristina
C
Stefaniu
Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Chemistry, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
Christian
C
Schwieger
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Guillaume
G
Pasche
1] Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland [2] Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Electron Spectrometry and Microscopy Laboratory, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Emad
E
Oveisi
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Materials, Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Yannik
Y
Fontana
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Materials, Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Anna
A
Fontcuberta i Morral
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Materials, Supramolecular Nanomaterials and Interfaces Laboratory, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Javier
J
Reguera
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Laboratory for Computational Molecular Design, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Riccardo
R
Petraglia
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Laboratory for Computational Molecular Design, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Clémence
C
Corminboeuf
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Interfaces, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Gerald
G
Brezesinski
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Materials, Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Materials, EPFL STI IMX LMOM, MXG 037, Station 12, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Holger
H
Frauenrath
D000388:Air; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D014867:Water; D002244:Carbon