Electric field: A catalyst for hydrogenation of graphene

Due to the importance of hydrogenation of graphene for several applications, we present an alternative approach to hydrogenate graphene based on density functional theory calculations. We find that a negative perpendicular electric field F can act as a catalyst to reduce the energy barrier for molecular H(2) dissociative adsorption on graphene. Increasing -F above 0.02 a.u. (1 a.u.=5.14x10(11) V/m), this hydrogenation process occurs smoothly without any potential barrier. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3456384]