Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed-matter physics. This strictly two-dimensional material exhibits exceptionally high crystal and electronic quality, and, despite its short history, has already revealed a cornucopia of new physics and potential applications, which are briefly discussed here. Whereas one can be certain of the realness of applications only when commercial products appear, graphene no longer requires any further proof of its importance in terms of fundamental physics. Owing to its unusual electronic spectrum, graphene has led to the emergence of a new paradigm of 'relativistic' condensed-matter physics, where quantum relativistic phenomena, some of which are unobservable in high-energy physics, can now be mimicked and tested in table-top experiments. More generally, graphene represents a conceptually new class of materials that are only one atom thick, and, on this basis, offers new inroads into low-dimensional physics that has never ceased to surprise and continues to provide a fertile ground for applications.

The rise of graphene

Graphene is a wonder material with many superlatives to its name. It is the thinnest known material in the universe and the strongest ever measured. Its charge carriers exhibit giant intrinsic mobility, have zero effective mass, and can travel for micrometers without scattering at room temperature. Graphene can sustain current densities six orders of magnitude higher than that of copper, shows record thermal conductivity and stiffness, is impermeable to gases, and reconciles such conflicting qualities as brittleness and ductility. Electron transport in graphene is described by a Dirac-like equation, which allows the investigation of relativistic quantum phenomena in a benchtop experiment. This review analyzes recent trends in graphene research and applications, and attempts to identify future directions in which the field is likely to develop.

/pdf/graphene-status-and-prospects-3qevmtoxn8.pdf

Graphene: Status and Prospects

Although graphite is known as one of the most chemically inert materials, we have found that graphene, a single atomic plane of graphite, can react with atomic hydrogen, which transforms this highly conductive zero-overlap semimetal into an insulator. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the obtained graphene derivative (graphane) is crystalline and retains the hexagonal lattice, but its period becomes markedly shorter than that of graphene. The reaction with hydrogen is reversible, so that the original metallic state, the lattice spacing, and even the quantum Hall effect can be restored by annealing. Our work illustrates the concept of graphene as a robust atomic-scale scaffold on the basis of which new two-dimensional crystals with designed electronic and other properties can be created by attaching other atoms and molecules.

/pdf/control-of-graphene-s-properties-by-reversible-hydrogenation-2h7j2618ra.pdf

Control of graphene's properties by reversible hydrogenation: Evidence for graphane

Graphene-Like Two-Dimensional Materials

Approaches, Derivatives and Applications Vasilios Georgakilas,† Michal Otyepka,‡ Athanasios B. Bourlinos,‡ Vimlesh Chandra, Namdong Kim, K. Christian Kemp, Pavel Hobza,‡,§,⊥ Radek Zboril,*,‡ and Kwang S. Kim* †Institute of Materials Science, NCSR “Demokritos”, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, 15310 Athens, Greece ‡Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic Center for Superfunctional Materials, Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, San 31, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Flemingovo naḿ. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Functionalization of Graphene: Covalent and Non-Covalent Approaches, Derivatives and Applications

We predict the stability of an extended two-dimensional hydrocarbon on the basis of first-principles total-energy calculations. The compound that we call graphane is a fully saturated hydrocarbon derived from a single graphene sheet with formula CH. All of the carbon atoms are in $s{p}^{3}$ hybridization forming a hexagonal network and the hydrogen atoms are bonded to carbon on both sides of the plane in an alternating manner. Graphane is predicted to be stable with a binding energy comparable to other hydrocarbons such as benzene, cyclohexane, and polyethylene. We discuss possible routes for synthesizing graphane and potential applications as a hydrogen storage material and in two-dimensional electronics.

Graphane: A two-dimensional hydrocarbon

Graphane: a two-dimensional hydrocarbon

Synthetic derivatives of 1-(2-hydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-cyclohexyl)-4,6-dimethoxy-phenyl)-methanone were evaluated in-vitro for their activities related to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. The antioxidant potential was determined by calculating reducing potential, OH and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine) radical scavenging activities. The in-vitro anti-inflammatory related activities of synthetic chalcones (SCs) were demonstrated by performing inhibition assays of trypsin, β-glucuronidase and diene conjugates. The results of the various parameters studied shows that the selected derivatives were found to be effective reducing agents and were reactive towards stabilizing the OH and DPPH radicals. The compounds have showed moderate to poor or no inhibition profile towards trypsin and β-glucuronidase, but were found to be effective inhibitor of dien conjugates (hydroperoxides). An attempt has been made to define structure activity relationship using BioMed CAChe 6.1.10: a computer-aided molecular modeling tool which applies equations from classical and quantum mechanics. The experimental and in silico results of the present investigation shows that the basic nucleus 1-(2-hydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-cyclohexyl)-4,6-dimethoxy-phenyl)-methanone can be considered as a potential candidate for the design and development of lead antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.

/pdf/antioxidant-and-anti-inflammatory-related-activities-of-1b9zqusuz3.pdf

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory related activities of selected synthetic chalcones: structure-activity relationship studies using computational tools.

Temperature dependent dielectric relaxation study of ethyl acetate — Alcohol mixtures using time domain technique

Various configurations were investigated to find the most stable structures of glycine-(water)3 complex. Five different optimized conformers of glycine-(water)3 complex are obtained from density functional theory calculations using 6-311++G* basis set. Relaxation energy and many body interaction energies (two, three, and four body) are also calculated for these conformers. Out of the five conformers, the most stable conformer has the BSSE corrected total energy -513.917 967 7 Hartree and binding energy -27.28 Kcal/mol. It has been found that the relaxation energies, two body energies and three body energies have significant contribution to the total binding energy whereas four body energies are very small. The chemical hardness and chemical potential also confirmed the stability of the conformer having lowest total energy.

Ajay Chaudhari

Papers

Graphane: A two-dimensional hydrocarbon

Graphane: a two-dimensional hydrocarbon

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory related activities of selected synthetic chalcones: structure-activity relationship studies using computational tools.

Temperature dependent dielectric relaxation study of ethyl acetate — Alcohol mixtures using time domain technique

Many-body interaction in glycine–(water)3 complex using density functional theory method