The impact of edges and dopants on the work function of graphene nanostructures. The way to high electronic emission from pure carbon medium

TL;DR

This study investigates how edges and dopants influence the work function of graphene nanostructures, revealing potential for high electron emission from pure carbon materials with minimal size and shape dependence.

Contribution

It provides ab initio analysis showing the significant role of edges and dopants on work function, highlighting the potential of graphene nanostructures for electron emission applications.

Findings

Work function strongly depends on GNR structure.

Donor impurities enhance field emission.

Graphene flakes exhibit size and shape independence in WF.

Abstract

The impact of the edges and presence of dopants to the work function (WF) of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) and nanoflakes was studied by an ab initio approach. The strong dependence of the WF upon the GNR structure was found and a promising character for the field emission by the donor type impurities was observed. Basing on the predominant impact of the nanostructure edges to the emission properties, the small graphene flakes were investigated as a possible source for the electron emission. The obtained weak dependence of the low WF values of the graphene flakes on their size and shape allows to suggest that the pure carbon medium with high and uniform emission properties can be fabricated by today technology.