One-step method uses clever precursor molecule to make graphene with regular irregularities

A method for growing graphene-like films with precisely engineered defects offers a new route to tailor the material’s properties for specific applications.

Defects are often undesirable in materials like graphene. But in certain cases, they can actually enhance its chemical, electronic, mechanical and magnetic properties.

Now a team led by Reinhard Maurer from the University of Warwick, UK, and David Duncan from the University of Nottingham, UK, has developed a one-step chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process to introduce defects directly during growth. It employs azupyrene, a precursor molecule designed to mimic the topology of a Stone–Wales defect by including two pentagons and two heptagons where there would normally be four adjacent hexagonal rings. These other rings influence the material’s interactions with substrates and modifies its electronic and magnetic behaviour.