• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.253-256
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• 2014

Functionalization of zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) segment containing 120 C atoms with pyridine (3NV-ZGNR) defects was investigated on the basis of density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, results show that edge-modified ZGNRs by Sc can adsorb multiple hydrogen molecules in a quasi-molecular fashion, thereby can be a potential candidate for hydrogen storage. The stability of Sc functionalization is dictated by a strong binding energy, suggesting a reduction of clustering of metal atoms over the metal-decorated ZGNR.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.428-429
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• 2011

Recently, we performed ab initio total energy calculation and tight-binding molecular dynamics (TBMD) simulation to study structures and the reconstruction of native defects in graphene. In the previous study, we predicted by TBMD simulation that a double vacancy in graphene is reconstructed into a 555-777 composed of triple pentagons and triple heptagons [1]. The structural change from pentagon-octagon-pentagon (5-8-5) to 555-777 has been confirmed by recent experiments [2,3] and the detail of the reconstruction process is carefully studied by ab initio calculation. Pentagon-heptagon (5-7) pairs are also found to play an important role in the reconstruction of vacancy in graphene and single wall carbon nanotube [4]. In the TBMD simulation of graphene nanoribbon (GNR), we found the evaporation of carbon atoms from both the zigzag and armchair edges is preceded by the formation of heptagon rings, which serve as a gateway for carbon atoms to escape. In the simulation for a GNR armchair-zigzag-armchair junction, carbon atoms are evaporated row-by-row from the outermost row of the zigzag edge [5], which is in excellent agreement with recent experiments [2, 6]. We also present the recent results on the formation and development of dislocation in graphene. It is found that the coalescence of 5-7 pairs with vacancy defects develops dislocation in graphene and induces the separation of two 5-7 pairs. Our TBMD simulations also show that adatoms are ejected and evaporated from graphene surface due to large strain around 5-7 pairs. It is observed that an adatom wanders on the graphene surface and helps non-hexagonal rings change into stable hexagonal rings before its evaporation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.204-204
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• 2012

Peierls instability and spin ordering of zigzag graphene nanoribbons (GNR) created on a fully hydrogenated graphene (graphane) are investigated as a function of their width using first-principles density-functional calculations within the generalized-gradient approximation. For the width containing a single zigzag C chain (N=1), we find the presence of a Peierls instability with a bond alternated structure. However, for width greater than N=1, the Peierls distortion is weakened or disappears because of the incommensurate feature of Fermi surface nesting due to the interaction of C chains. Instead, there exists the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin ordering in which the edge states are ferromagnetically ordered but the two ferromagnetic (FM) edges are antiferromagnetically coupled with each other, showing that electron-lattice coupling and spin ordering in GNR are delicately competing at an extremely thin width of N=2. It is found that, as the width of GNR increases, the energy gain arising from spin ordering is enhanced, but the energy difference between the AFM and FM (where two edge states are ferromagnetically coupled with each other) orderings decreases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.442-442
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• 2011

Electronic and magnetic properties of bilayer zigzag graphene nanoribbon (bZGNR) are studied using pseudopotential density functional method. The edge atoms in the top and bottom layers of bZGNR make a weak hybridization, which leads to electronic structures different from monolayer ZGNR. For asymmetric bZGNR, where the top and bottom layers have different widths, one edge is pinched by the interlayer bonding and the other sustains antiferromagnetic ordering. A small amount of charge transfer occurs from narrower to wider layer, producing spin-polarized electron and hole pockets. External electric field produces asymmetric energy-gap opening for each spin component, inducing half-metallicity in bZGNR.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.185.2-185.2
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• 2014

We have studied the atomic and electronic structure of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) on a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) sheet with intercalated atoms using first-principles calculations. The h-BN sheet is an insulator with the band gap about 6 eV and then it may a good candidate as a supporting dielectric substrate for graphene-based nanodevices. Especially, the h-BN sheet has the similar bond structure as graphene with a slightly longer lattice constant. For the computation, we use the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP). The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in the form of the PBE-type parameterization is employed. The ions are described via the projector augmented wave potentials, and the cutoff energy for the plane-wave basis is set to 400 eV. To include weak van der Waals (vdW) interactions, we adopt the Grimme's DFT-D2 vdW correction based on a semi-empirical GGA-type theory. Our calculations reveal that the localized states appear at the zigzag edge of the GNR on the h-BN sheet due to the flat band of the zigzag edge at the Fermi level and the localized states rapidly decay into the bulk. The open-edged graphene with a large corrugation allows some space between graphene and h-BN sheet. Therefore, atoms or molecules can be intercalated between them. We have considered various types of atoms for intercalation. The atoms are initially placed at the edge of the GNR or inserted in between GNR and h-BN sheet to find the effect of intercalated atoms on the atomic and electronic structure of graphene. We find that the impurity atoms at the edge of GNR are more stable than in between GNR and h-BN sheet for all cases considered. The nickel atom has the lowest energy difference of ~0.2 eV, which means that it is relatively easy to intercalate the Ni atom in this structure. Finally, the magnetic properties of intercalated atoms between GNR and h-BN sheet are investigated.