Decoration of Graphitic Surfaces with Sn Nanoparticles through Surface Functionalization Using Diazonium Chemistry

Abstract

Composites of tin nanoparticles (Sn NP) and graphene are candidate materials for high capacity and mechanically stable negative electrodes in rechargeable Li ion batteries. A uniform dispersion of Sn NP with controlled size is necessary to obtain high electrochemical performance. We show that the nucleation of Sn particles on highly ordered pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) from solution can be controlled by functionalizing the HOPG surface by aryl groups prior to Sn deposition. On the contrary, we observe heterogeneous deposition of micrometer sized Sn islands on HOPG subjected to oxidation prior to deposition in the same conditions. We demonstrate that functional groups act as nucleation sites for Sn NP nucleation, and that homogeneous nucleation of small particles can be achieved by combining surface functionalization with diazonium chemistry and appropriate stabilizers in solution.

Tuning TiO2nanoparticle morphology in graphene–TiO2hybrids by graphene surface modification

“…The high resolution C 1s XPS spectra for all samples (Fig. 2a) show a component at 284.4 eV relative to C-C carbon, 48 one at ~290 eV due to the -* transition relative to aromatic carbon, 55 and three components generated by groups containing O (and/or N, in NH 2 -GNP): C-O or C-N at 285.5-285.7 eV, C=O and 286.7-286.9 eV, and carboxylic and amidic bonds at ~288 eV 56,57 . The intensity of the 284.4 eV component is significantly higher in the GNP spectrum than in the spectra of the functionalized samples (Fig.…”

“…48,49 To prepare this sample, denoted COOH-GNP, the GNP powder was added to a solution containing 0.05 M 4-aminophenylacetic acid, 0.5 M HCl and 0.05 M sodium nitrite. All chemicals were purchased from Sigma Aldrich and used without further purification.…”

“…NH 2 -GNP shows two components, at 399.2 eV and 400.2 eV, which can be assigned to primary amino groups, and amide or azo groups respectively. 48,54 The Raman spectra of the bare and functionalized GNPs show the so-called D and G peaks, centered at approximately 1350 cm -1 and 1580 cm -1 respectively (Fig. 4).…”

Direct Electroless Deposition of Nickel onto Silicon Nitride Ceramic: A Novel Approach for Copper Metallization of Micro‐/Nano‐fabricated Devices

“…In addition to the aminophenyl layers which are critical for subsequent electroless nickel plating as described in this work, it is worth recalling that our proposed diazoniumbased process can provide any surface with numbers of tail-functional groups. [11,30] It is thus believed that this work can be considered within the field of surface modification of engineering materials with special functionalities as required by various industrial applications.…”

An Application of Diazonium‐Induced Anchoring Process in the Fabrication of Micro‐Electromechanical Systems

“…Therefore, the development of new and robust amination processes is of primary importance in the field of MEMS fabrication. [1c,2] Recently, one‐step chemical grafting of aminophenyl groups in aqueous acidic media using the reduction of diazonium cation has been proven efficient toward a broad range of surfaces: gold, polystyrene/divinylbenzene‐based membrane, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), SU‐8 photoresist polymer, stainless steel, and TiN ceramic . Exploring the application of such diazonium‐based method for MEMS fabrication is of potential interest.…”