We present a combined experimental and theoretical quantification of the adsorption enthalpies of seven organic molecules (acetone, acetonitrile, dichloromethane, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, and toluene) on graphene. Adsorption enthalpies were measured by inverse gas chromatography and ranged from -5.9 kcal/mol for dichloromethane to -13.5 kcal/mol for toluene. The strength of interaction between graphene and the organic molecules was estimated by density functional theory (PBE, B97D, M06-2X, and optB88-vdW), wave function theory (MP2, SCS(MI)-MP2, MP2.5, MP2.X, and CCSD(T)), and empirical calculations (OPLS-AA) using two graphene models: coronene and infinite graphene. Symmetry-adapted perturbation theory calculations indicated that the interactions were governed by London dispersive forces (amounting to ∼60% of attractive interactions), even for the polar molecules. The results also showed that the adsorption enthalpies were largely controlled by the interaction energy. Adsorption enthalpies obtained from ab initio molecular dynamics employing non-local optB88-vdW functional were in excellent agreement with the experimental data, indicating that the functional can cover physical phenomena behind adsorption of organic molecules on graphene sufficiently well.

Stoichoimetric graphene fluoride monolayers are obtained in a single step by the liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite fluoride with sulfolane. Comparative quantum-mechanical calculations reveal that graphene fluoride is the most thermodynamically stable of five studied hypothetical graphene derivatives; graphane, graphene fluoride, bromide, chloride, and iodide. The graphene fluoride is transformed into graphene via graphene iodide, a spontaneously decomposing intermediate. The calculated bandgaps of graphene halides vary from zero for graphene bromide to 3.1 eV for graphene fluoride. It is possible to design the electronic properties of such two-dimensional crystals.

Graphene derivatives containing covalently bound halogens (graphene halides) represent promising two-dimensional systems having interesting physical and chemical properties. The attachment of halogen atoms to sp(2) carbons changes the hybridization state to sp(3), which has a principal impact on electronic properties and local structure of the material. The fully fluorinated graphene derivative, fluorographene (graphene fluoride, C1F1), is the thinnest insulator and the only stable stoichiometric graphene halide (C1X1). In this review, we discuss structural properties, syntheses, chemistry, stabilities, and electronic properties of fluorographene and other partially fluorinated, chlorinated, and brominated graphenes. Remarkable optical, mechanical, vibrational, thermodynamic, and conductivity properties of graphene halides are also explored as well as the properties of rare structures including multilayered fluorinated graphenes, iodine-doped graphene, and mixed graphene halides. Finally, patterned halogenation is presented as an interesting approach for generating materials with applications in the field of graphene-based electronic devices.

The band structures of three graphene derivatives (chlorographene, fluorographene, and graphane) were analyzed at three levels of many-body GW theory (G0W0, GW0, and GW) constructed over GGA (PBE) and screened hybrid HSE06 orbitals. DFT band gap values obtained with the HSE06 functional were notably larger than those from PBE calculations but were significantly lower than band gaps from all GW calculations. On the other hand, all GW-type calculations gave similar band gaps despite some differences in band structures. The band gap (4.9 eV at the highest GW-HSE06 level) was predicted to be smaller than that of fluorographene (8.3 eV) or graphane (6.2 eV). However, chlorographene can be considered a wide-band gap insulator analogous to fluorographene and graphane. Using the Bethe-Salpeter equation, optical absorptions of graphene derivatives were found to be at significantly lower energies due to large binding energies of excitons (1.3, 1.9, and 1.5 eV for chlorographene, fluorographene, and graphane, respectively). Point defects lowered band gaps and absorption energies. Taking into account the low concentration of defects in this type of material, their effect on the discussed electronic properties was rather small.

Graphene has attracted great interest because of its remarkable properties and numerous potential applications. A comprehensive understanding of its structural and dynamic properties and those of its derivatives will be required to enable the design and optimization of sophisticated new nanodevices. While it is challenging to perform experimental studies on nanoscale systems at the atomistic level, this is the 'native' scale of computational chemistry. Consequently, computational methods are increasingly being used to complement experimental research in many areas of chemistry and nanotechnology. However, it is difficult for non-experts to get to grips with the plethora of computational tools that are available and their areas of application. This perspective briefly describes the available theoretical methods and models for simulating graphene functionalization based on quantum and classical mechanics. The benefits and drawbacks of the individual methods are discussed, and we provide numerous examples showing how computational methods have provided new insights into the physical and chemical features of complex systems including graphene and graphene derivatives. We believe that this overview will help non-expert readers to understand this field and its great potential.

Materials based on metallic elements that have d orbitals and exhibit room temperature magnetism have been known for centuries and applied in a huge range of technologies. Development of room temperature carbon magnets containing exclusively sp orbitals is viewed as great challenge in chemistry, physics, spintronics and materials science. Here we describe a series of room temperature organic magnets prepared by a simple and controllable route based on the substitution of fluorine atoms in fluorographene with hydroxyl groups. Depending on the chemical composition (an F/OH ratio) and sp3 coverage, these new graphene derivatives show room temperature antiferromagnetic ordering, which has never been observed for any sp-based materials. Such 2D magnets undergo a transition to a ferromagnetic state at low temperatures, showing an extraordinarily high magnetic moment. The developed theoretical model addresses the origin of the room temperature magnetism in terms of sp2-conjugated diradical motifs embedded in an sp3 matrix and superexchange interactions via –OH functionalization.

DFT calculations of the electronic structure of graphane and stoichiometrically halogenated graphene derivatives (fluorographene and other analogous graphene halides) show (i) localized orbital basis sets can be successfully and effectively used for such 2D materials; (ii) several functionals predict that the band gap of graphane is greater than that of fluorographene, whereas HSE06 gives the opposite trend; (iii) HSE06 functional predicts quite good values of band gaps w.r.t benchmark theoretical and experimental data; (iv) the zero band gap of graphene is opened by hydrogenation and halogenation and strongly depends on the chemical composition of mixed graphene halides; (v) the stability of graphene halides decreases sharply with increasing size of the halogen atom -fluorographene is stable, whereas graphene iodide spontaneously decomposes. In terms of band gap and stability, the C 2 FBr, and C 2 HBr derivatives seem to be promising materials, e.g., for (opto)electronics applications, because their band gaps are similar to those of conventional semiconductors, and they are expected to be stable under ambient conditions. The results indicate that other fluorinated compounds (C a H b F c and C a F b Y c , Y = Cl, Br, I) are stable insulators.

Fluorographene (FG) is a two-dimensional graphene derivative with promising application potential; however, its reactivity is not understood. We have systematically explored its reactivity in vacuum and polar environments. The C-F bond dissociation energies for homo- and heterolytic cleavage are above 100 kcal/mol, but the barrier of SN2 substitution is significantly lower. For example, the experimentally determined activation barrier of the FG reaction with NaOH in acetone equals 14 ± 5 kcal/mol. The considerable reactivity of FG indicates that it is a viable precursor for the synthesis of graphene derivatives and cannot be regarded as a chemical counterpart of Teflon.