High-Quality N-Doped Graphene with Controllable Nitrogen Bonding Configurations Derived from Ionic Liquids

Controllable nitrogen doping is an effective way to regulate the electronic properties of graphene and further to facilitate its wider application. However, the synthesis of high-quality nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) with a controllable nitrogen configuration still faces considerable challenges. In this work, we present for the first time a simple method for the one-step synthesis of NG with ionic liquids (ILs) as precursors, which avoids the defects introduced by secondary doping and simplifies the process. Using 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (EMIM-dca) as the precursor, we obtained a high-quality NG with few defects (I-D/I-G is 0.83), nitrogen content (4.11 at%), and graphite-N proportion of 92% at a growth temperature of 1000 degrees C and field effect transistors (FETs) fabricated on SiO2/Si substrates using the NG exhibited typical n-type semiconductor behavior in air. Our findings bring more inspiration for the controllable growth of high-quality graphitic N-doped graphene, thereby promoting its application possibilities in numerous fields.

Automated summary

This study presents a simple method for the one-step synthesis of high-quality nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) using ionic liquids (ILs) as precursors. The NG obtained showed excellent properties in nitrogen configuration, defect content, and graphite-N proportion. Field effect transistors (FETs) fabricated using the NG exhibited typical n-type semiconductor behavior, demonstrating its potential for various applications.