Project
Covalent attachment of transition metal dichalcogenides
Due to their stellar material properties graphene along with Buckminsterfullerene (C60) and carbon nanotubes are intensively explored systems. However, as useful as the intrinsic properties of these materials are, there is an emerging need to interface them with each other in search of new functionality. Upon combining, the physical and chemical properties of these nanomaterials can be tailored and improved. Despite their potential applications, the covalently coupled hybrids are not explored to a great extent because of the differences in their reactivity and the troublesome processability of the various components. There is a pressing need to develop alternative strategies that yield such hybrid materials using mild chemistries that do not require specialist care. Furthermore, there is also a huge scope to extend the hybridization strategies to materials beyond graphene, which may provide new functional properties. This project aims to develop facile experimental protocols for coupling of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes to the basal plane of graphene and MoS2 using a hierarchical and modular approach allowing precise molecular level control over the hybridization process