title: Bottom-Up Synthesis of Necklace-Like Graphene Nanoribbons.
abstract: Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with an unprecedented "necklace-like" structure were synthesized through a bottom-up chemical approach, based on the oxidative cyclodehydrogenation of tailor-made polyphenylene precursors. A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of 84 sp(2) carbons (C84) was also synthesized and characterized as a model compound. Characterizations by a combination of MALDI-TOF MS and FTIR, Raman, and UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy validated the formation of the necklace-like GNRs. The absorption spectrum and DFT calculations revealed a bandgap of approximately 1.4 eV for this novel GNR system, which has not been attained with other GNR structures, enabling further fine-tuning of GNR bandgaps by structural modulation.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.|BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, 67056, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias Georg
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Akimitsu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.affiliation: Chemistry of Novel Materials, University of Mons, Place du Parc 20, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Osella
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Yunbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maghsoumi
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mavrinsky
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.|Department of Molecular Physics, Faculty of Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Zeromskiego 116, 90-924, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pisula
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castiglioni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tommasini
authors.affiliation: Chemistry of Novel Materials, University of Mons, Place du Parc 20, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beljonne
authors.affiliation: Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) & Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Dresden University of Technology, Walther-Hempel-Bau Mommsenstrasse 4, 01062, Dresden, Germany. xinliang.feng@tu-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Xinliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany. muellen@mpip-mainz.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
keywords: dehydrogenation; graphene; nanostructures; polycycles; vibrational spectroscopy