A light-driven modulation of electric conductance through the adsorption of azobenzene onto silicon-doped- and pyridine-like N-3-vacancy graphene

作者：Zhao, Jun; Liu, Chunyan; Ma, Jing^*

来源：Nanoscale, 2017, 9(48): 19017-19025.

DOI：10.1039/c7nr07382h

• CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION
• OXYGEN REDUCTION REACTION
• WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES
• AUGMENTED-WAVE METHOD
• SOLAR THERMAL FUELS
• EVOLUTION REACTIONS
• SECONDARY BATTERY
• ANODE MATERIAL
• ION BATTERY
• NITROGEN

The ability to modulate the conductance of an electronic device under light irradiation is crucial to the practical applications of nanoscale electronics. Density functional theory calculations predict that the conductance of the photo-responsive graphene-based nanocomposites can be tuned through the noncovalent adsorption of an azobenzene (AB) derivative onto pristine, Si-doped, and pyridine-like N-3-vacancy graphene. AB@graphene systems were found to exhibit a visible-light response within the low-frequency region, rendering the trans-to-cis isomerizations of these nanocomposites under the irradiation of solar light. The excellent solar light absorption performances of these hybrids can then be used to modulate the conductance of both N-3-vacancy-and Si-doped-graphene AB hybrids effectively through the reversible change of the effective conjugate length of the AB molecule in the photoisomerization. In addition, the solar thermal energy up to 1.53 eV per AB molecule can be stored in the designed nanocomposites with the doped graphene. These findings provide clues for making multifunctional materials with potential applications as both optically controlled nanoelectronics and solar energy storage devices.

• 出版日期2017-12-28
• 单位南京大学; 南京邮电大学