Graphite Oxide and Aromatic Amines: Size Matters |
| |
| Authors: | Konstantinos Spyrou Matteo Calvaresi Evmorfia K Diamanti Theodoros Tsoufis Dimitrios Gournis Petra Rudolf Francesco Zerbetto |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, AG, Groningen, (The Netherlands);2. Dipartimento di Chimica “G. Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy;3. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece |
| |
| Abstract: | Experimental and theoretical studies are performed in order to illuminate, for first time, the intercalation mechanism of polycyclic aromatic molecules into graphite oxide. Two representative molecules of this family, aniline and naphthalene amine are investigated. After intercalation, aniline molecules prefer to covalently connect to the graphene oxide matrix via chemical grafting, while napthalene amine molecules bind with the graphene oxide surface through π–π interactions. The presence of intercalated aromatic molecules between the graphene oxide layers is demonstrated by X‐ray diffraction, while the type of interaction between graphene oxide and polycyclic organic molecules is elucidated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical calculations describe the intercalation mechanism and the aniline grafting, rationalizing the experimental data. The present work opens new perspectives for the interaction of various aromatic molecules with graphite oxide and the so‐called “intercalation chemistry”. |
| |
| Keywords: | graphene oxide aromatic amines X‐ray diffraction photoelectron spectroscopy quantum mechanics molecular mechanics |
|
|
