Type of presentation: Poster

MS-2-P-5760 Controlled deposition of iron based nanoparticles on few-layer graphene

Melinte G.¹, Liu X.¹, Janowska I.², Baaziz W.², Moldovan S.¹, Begin-Colin S.¹, Pham-Huu C.², Ersen O.¹

¹Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, 23, rue du Loess, 67037 Strasbourg, France, ²Institut de Chimie et Procédés pour l’Energie, l’Environnement et la Santé, CNRS, ECPM, Université de Strasbourg, 25, rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France

georgian.melinte@ipcms.unistra.fr

The last decades witness a continuous “miniaturizing” trend that is principally projected in the field of applied electronics. Owing to the development of nanotechnologies, the industry is nowadays capable to produce materials and structures with well-defined sizes, geometries and morphologies. The carbon-based structures like graphene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nanofibers (CNFs) are promising candidates for the development of nanodevices [1,2], which strongly demand for a close control of materials properties at the nanoscale. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) can be employed to move single atoms with incredible precision [3], but this approach is not adapted for assembling nanodevices with thousands of atoms. The use of CNTs as “nanopipetts” able to transport femtograms of mass to predefined spots can be envisaged [4], as approach based on the Joule assisted electromigration phenomenon, when a high current pass through a metal phase encapsulated inside a CNT.

We propose here a highly precise method for delivering nanoparticles to the graphene and few-layer graphene edges and surfaces using a CNT filled with Fe3-xO4 NPs as a nanopipette. The experiment is realized inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM) by using a STM-TEM holder allowing high precision sub-nanometer movement and high voltage supply. Figure 1 shows several nanoparticles deposited on the surface of the FLG sheet with a radial distribution relative to the CNT/FLG contact point. Figure 2 displays series of a more complex experiment: control the NPs deposition at the FLG edge in time, together with the image of the initial and the final system. The in-situ TEM observation of the experiment has made possible a real time analysis of the structural and chemical properties of both the NPs and the supporting CNT.

1. A. K. Geim, Graphene: Status and Prospects, Science 324, 1530 (2009);

2. R. H. Baughman et al., Carbon Nanotubes--the Route Toward Applications, Science 297, 787 (2002);

3. J. A. Stroscio, D. M. Eigler, Atomic and molecular manipulation with the scanning tunneling microscope, Science, 254, 1319, (1991);

4. K. Svensson, H. Olin, and E. Olsson, Nanopipettes for metal transport, Physical Review Letters, 93 (14), (2004).

Fig. 1: Electron migration with a radial displacement of iron nanoparticles on the surface of few-layer.

Fig. 2: Electron migration based deposition of iron nanoparticles on the edge of few-layer graphene.