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Bio-adenine-bridged molecular design approach toward non-covalent functionalized graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation

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Abstract

Here, the supramolecular interaction between nucleobase adenine and graphene was strengthened by a novel chemical molecular designing strategy. Based on this approach, the adenine-bridged aromatic phthalonitrile (AAPN) was prepared as stabilizer toward liquid-phase exfoliation for non-covalent functionalized graphene (AAPN-G). A series of experiments were carried out to verify the strong supramolecular interaction between AAPN and graphene. The feasibility of multifunctional application of the AAPN was briefly demonstrated. This work constitutes a feasible strategy in the preparation and functionalization of graphene that could be extended to some other (bio)molecules toward realization of designing multifunctional materials.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Analytical & Testing Center, Sichuan University, P. R. China, for the molecular simulation (Materials Studio 8.0) support.

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Correspondence to Ke Zeng or Gang Yang.

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Liu, Y., Li, R., Liang, B. et al. Bio-adenine-bridged molecular design approach toward non-covalent functionalized graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation. J Mater Sci 55, 140–150 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03931-9

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