Recently in ChemComm, an international team from Italy and Spain reported a non-conventional way to anchor arynes onto graphene surface using microwave. Their developed method is fast, efficient, mild and solvent-free.
Attaching functional groups onto graphene surface, i.e. functionalization, allows the physical and chemical properties of graphene to be fine-tuned, such as electrical conductivity and solubility. Conventional solvent-based functionalization strategies usually involve time-consuming reactions and tedious purification steps. The poor suspension stability of graphene in solvents, particularly in polar organic solvents, greatly hinders the overall functionalization efficiency. Therefore, establishing easy and solvent-free functionalization protocols for graphene is highly needed.
M. Prato, A. Criado and coworkers made a breakthrough in addressing this challenge by developing a microwave-assisted functionalization method. Their method to functionalize graphene consists of cycloaddition reactions between few-layer graphene (FLG) and arynes (Figure 1). These reactions proceed by mixing the dry powder of FLG and arylene anhydrides, the precursors of arynes, followed by rapid heating under microwave irradiation. The whole process is solvent-free and occurs within half a minute. It is also applicable to a variety of arynes (Figure 2).
Figure 1. The schematic illustration of the microwave-assisted functionalization of graphene with arynes. This process can be carried out within half a minute and is solvent-free.
Figure 2. A variety of arynes capable of being anchored on graphene surface. 1~6 represent the arylene anhydrides and f-G(7)~f-G(12) are corresponding arynes attached onto graphene.
The most unique feature of the demonstrated method is the dual role of FLG. In addition to being one of the reactants, FLG is capable of absorbing microwave energy, and enables its surface to rapidly reach high temperatures that significantly accelerate the cycloaddition reactions.
This microwave-assisted functionalization method shows great promise as a stepping stone for the fast and efficient modulation of graphene surface and subsequently, the performance of graphene-based electronics.
To find out more please read:
V. Sulleiro, S. Quiroga, D. Peña, D. Pérez, E. Guitián, A. Criado and M. Prato
Chem. Commun. 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C7CC08676H
About the blogger:
Tianyu Liu obtained his Ph.D. (2017) in Physical Chemistry from University of California, Santa Cruz in United States. He is passionate about scientific communication to introduce cutting-edge research to both the general public and scientists with diverse research expertise. He is an online blog writer for Chem. Commun. and Chem. Sci. More information about him can be found at http://liutianyuresearch.weebly.com/.
