Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), are strips of graphene with ultra-thin width (<50 nm). Graphene ribbons were introduced as a theoretical model by Mitsutaka Fujita and coauthors to examine the edge and nanoscale size effect in graphene. Now, a team of researchers reports the generation of net spins on chiral GNRs (chGNRs) by ketone functionalization. GNRs are […]
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are layered compounds which can be thinned down to the single-layer limit. While mechanical exfoliation generates atomically thin TMD flakes possessing an area of a few square microns, chemical and physical methods provide high-quality monolayers on large-area substrates, which are suitable for actual technological applications. TMDs are a class of van […]
The advent of on-surface chemistry under vacuum has vastly increased our capabilities to synthesize carbon nanomaterials with atomic precision. Among the types of target structures that have been synthesized by these means, one-dimensional graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have probably attracted the most attention, and for a good reason: t he enormous tunability of GNRs’ electronic properties […]
In the last decades, a mathematical description of symmetries in nature called topology has been applied to describe and predict new electronic and magnetic properties of materials. A very simple aspect of topology connects a symmetry in the atomic structure of a crystal with a class of materials. Many materials that we know or use […]
Since the discovery of graphene, a wide diversity of atomic-layer-thick, two-dimensional (2D) materials with varied properties have emerged. Of particular interest are those that exhibit semiconducting behaviour, such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). hBN is isoelectronic to graphene and has also a honeycomb lattice formed by alternating nitrogen and boron atoms, but in contrast to […]
Real life is sometimes very different from laboratory settings. Take superconductivity, for example. In order to reach, it you either need extremely low temperatures, extremely high pressures or a combination of both; something that makes very difficult to conceive an everyday application out of a laboratory. Something similar happens with other new materials, but in […]
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are layered compounds which can be thinned down to the single-layer limit. While mechanical exfoliation generates atomically thin TMD flakes possessing an area of a few square microns, chemical and physical methods provide high-quality monolayers on large-area substrates, which are suitable for actual technological applications. Similar to other two-dimensional materials, TMD […]
Acenes are the class of organic compounds made up of linearly fused benzene rings. The best known of acenes is the compound with three rings, anthracene. The larger representatives, like pentacene (the one with five rings) have potential interest in optoelectronic applications and are actively researched in chemistry and electrical engineering. Starphenes are 2D polyaromatic […]
Chemistry • DIPC Electronic Properties • DIPC Interfaces • Materials
Organic-based materials have gained rising interest as active components in electronics, energy conversion and catalytic systems. However, the discrete nature of the molecular constituents of these systems implies a reduced electron conductance, lowering the device efficiency. In order to increase the electron delocalization through an improved structural order, which favors orbital overlap and consequently the […]
Carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation (2CO + O2 → CO2) on platinum (Pt) group metal surfaces is the model heterogeneous gas/surface catalytic reaction. Pt itself is of the upmost importance as a catalyst for car exhaust cleaning or for the water gas shift reaction, whereas Pt crystal surfaces are model systems for investigating the catalytic CO […]