Authors: Dariya Savchenko, Abdel Hadi Kassiba

Series Title: Frontiers in Magnetic Resonance

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance in Modern Carbon-Based Nanomaterials

Volume 1

eBook: US $99 Special Offer (PDF + Printed Copy): US $181
Printed Copy: US $131
Library License: US $396
ISSN: 2589-7071 (Print)
ISSN: 2589-708X (Online)
ISBN: 978-1-68108-694-1 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-68108-693-4 (Online)
Year of Publication: 2018
DOI: 10.2174/97816810869341180101

Introduction

This volume presents information about several topics in the field of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study of carbon-containing nanomaterials. It introduces the reader to an array of experimental and theoretical approaches for the analysis of paramagnetic centers (dangling bonds, interface defects, vacancies, and impurities) usually observed in modern carbon-containing materials such as nanographites, graphene, disordered onion-like carbon nanospheres (DOLCNS), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), nanodiamonds, silicon carbonitride (SiCN) and silicon carbide (SiC) based composites and thin films.

In particular, the book describes in detail:

  • - The fundamentals of EPR spectroscopy and its application to the carbon-containing materials;
  • - The resolution of the EPR signals from different species in carbon materials;
  • - EPR characterization of spin dynamics in carbon nanomaterials;
  • - Magnetic properties of DWCNTs and MWCNTs polymer composites;
  • - EPR investigations on GO, rGO and CNTs with different chemical functionalities;
  • - EPR spectroscopy of semiconducting SWCNTs thin films and their transistors;
  • - In-situ EPR investigations of the oxygenation processes in coal and graphene materials;
  • - The two-temperature EPR measurement method applied to carbonaceous solids;
  • - Characterization of impurities in nanodiamonds and SiC nanomaterials and related size effects by CW and pulse EPR techniques;
  • - Application of multifrequency EPR to the study of paramagnetic defects in a-Si1-xCx:H thin films and a-SiCxNy based composites.

This volume is a useful guide for researchers interested in the EPR study of paramagnetic centers in the carbon-containing thin films, nanomaterials, ceramics, etc. It is also a valuable teaching tool at graduate and postgraduate levels for advanced courses in analytical chemistry, applied sciences and spectroscopy.

Foreword

Carbon based materials include nanographites, conducting carbon nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes, graphene oxides, nanodiamonds, hybrids like carbon nanotubes embedded into polymer composites or functionalized molecular groups. These compounds are being implemented in multiple architectures with versatile chemical bonding, organization and morphologies leading to the unique physical properties such as exceptional electrical, thermal, structural dependent dimensionalities, mechanical and tribological performances. For instance, pure diamond is an excellent electrical insulator while some graphite based materials are more or less good electrical conductors, depending on their composition and pre-treatment. Carbon and graphite foams are very good thermal insulators, even at very high temperatures. On the other hand, diamond is used for the heat sink in electronics due to its very high thermal conductivity. Mechanical properties of carbon materials also differ considerably, depending on the type of the material. Since carbon allotropes and hybrids materials may contain different chemical bonding, multi-functional compounds can be tailored for various applications in nanoelectronics, integrated optoelectronics, energy storage and conversion, sensors, biomedicine, etc., being both already implemented in working devices and currently under development.

Intrinsic electronic features originating from doping or structural defects critically contribute to physical properties of carbon-based materials. These features may be exhaustively characterized by various electron magnetic resonance techniques including continuous wave (CW) or pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) and other advanced electron magnetic resonance methods. Using a variety of complementary EPR techniques provides detailed insight into the local environment and the electronic peculiarity of defect structures in carbon-based systems. Moreover, extraordinary sensitivity of EPR techniques to the relaxation times (both spin-lattice and spin-spin) of paramagnetic species as well as the capability of selective control and detection of defects paves the way for the understanding of spin dynamics, which is extremely important in quantum computation or implementations of non-volatile memory devices. Thus, EPR techniques, based on different instrumental functionalities and methodologies, due to their specific window of time scales allow probing structural and electronic features of intrinsic and engineered spin systems in carbon based materials with the aim to open new challenges toward advanced and emerging technologies.

Dr. Alexander I. Shames
Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance,
Department of Physics
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Be’er-Sheva
Israel