Interfacial architecture of graphene - potential applications in an electrochemical environment

SANTOS, E.; RENAT NAZMUTDINOV; QUAINO, PAOLA; JUAREZ, FERNANDA

sudafrica

Congreso; The 70th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry; 2019

ISE

Graphene supported on crystalline metal substrates [1, 2] has recently attracted much attentian. Due tolattice mismatch a well-defined periodic Moiré pattern is formed between graphene and the metalsubstrate [3, 4]. Both the graphene overlayer and the underlying substrate are locally strained leading toquasi-periodic overlayer buckling and local lateral distortions. This feature provides a naturalperiodically-templated substrate for self-assembled nanostructures: adatoms, metallic clusters, adsorbedions. Deposited atoms can nucleate at specific preferred sites and aggregate at these locations, forming aperiodic array, which shows different electrocatalytic properties. The presence of topological defects orforeign atoms acts as doping and induces mid gap states. In the framework of a quantum mechanicaltheory of electron transfer and based on simple analytical models, we found intriguing features in theelectron transfer kinetics for the graphene/electrolyte interface as compared with a metal electrode. Wehave also explored the electron transfer process when mid-gap states are present, and analyzed the effectsaccording to their positions relative to the Fermi level.