title: Reversible hydrophobic to hydrophilic transition in graphene via water splitting induced by UV irradiation.
abstract: Although the reversible wettability transition between hydrophobic and hydrophilic graphene under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has been observed, the mechanism for this phenomenon remains unclear. In this work, experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrate that the H2O molecules are split into hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals, which are then captured by the graphene surface through chemical binding in an ambient environment under UV irradiation. The dissociative adsorption of H2O molecules induces the wettability transition in graphene from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Our discovery may hold promise for the potential application of graphene in water splitting.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhemi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. NSW 2052, Australia [2] Centre for Clean Energy Technology, School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Technology, SydneyPO Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhimin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Dewei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Younis
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Lab for Advanced Materials &Clean Energies of Technologies, Institute for Clean Energy and Advanced Materials, Southwest University, 2 Tiansheng Rd, Beibei, Chongqing, China 400715.
authors.forename: Chang Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li