Covalent pathways in engineering h-BN supported graphene

TL;DR

This paper investigates covalent pathways in h-BN supported graphene, demonstrating how defect engineering and environmental modulation can control doping and healing processes to enhance graphene's properties.

Contribution

It introduces a method combining irradiation, chemical, and charge engineering to manipulate covalent links in h-BN/graphene heterostructures for improved material quality.

Findings

CPDVs act as cross-planar atom transport points

Chemical environment influences interlayer link nature

Method enables tunable electronic and electrochemical properties

Abstract

Cross-planar di-vacancies (CPDVs) within stacked graphene hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) heterostructures provide stabilized covalent links to bridge adjacent graphene and h-BN sheets. It was shown that the CPDVs serve as focal points for cross-planar atom transport between graphene and h-BN, and the chemical nature of interlayer links along with associated cross-planar migration pathways at these defects can be predictively manipulated through modulation of the chemical environment and charge engineering, to achieve consistent B or N doping and simultaneous healing of graphene. The present study proposed a viable approach integrating irradiation, chemical and charge engineering, to produce high-quality graphene with tunable electronic and electrochemical properties, using the h-BN substrate.