Atomistic Description of Electron Beam Damage in Nitrogen-Doped Graphene and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
- Author(s)
- Toma Susi, Jani Kotakoski, Raul Arenal, Simon Kurasch, Hua Jiang, Viera Skakalova, Odile Stephan, A. Krasheninnikov, Esko Kauppinen, Ute Kaiser, Jannik C. Meyer
- Abstract
By combining ab initio simulations with state-of-the-art electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy, we study the mechanism of electron beam damage in nitrogen-doped graphene and carbon nanotubes. Our results show that the incorporation of nitrogen atoms results in noticeable knock-on damage in these structures already at an acceleration voltage of 80 kV, at which essentially no damage is created in pristine structures at corresponding doses. Contrary to an early estimate predicting rapid destruction via sputtering of the nitrogen atoms, in the case of substitutional doping, damage is initiated by displacement of carbon atoms neighboring the nitrogen dopant, leading to the conversion of substitutional dopant sites into pyridinic ones. Although such events are relatively rare at 80 kV, they become significant at higher voltages typically used in electron energy loss spectroscopy studies. Correspondingly, we measured an energy loss spectrum time series at 100 kV that provides direct evidence for such conversions in nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes, in excellent agreement with our theoretical prediction. Besides providing an improved understanding of the irradiation stability of these structures, we show that structural changes cannot be neglected in their characterization employing high-energy electrons.
- Organisation(s)
- Electronic Properties of Materials, Physics of Nanostructured Materials
- External organisation(s)
- Aalto University, ONERA-The French Aerospac Lab., Universität Ulm, Université Paris XI - Paris-Sud, University of Helsinki, Universidad de Zaragoza, Fundación Agencia Aragonesa Papa la Investigación y el Desarrollo (ARAID)
- Journal
- ACS Nano
- Volume
- 6
- Pages
- 8837-8846
- No. of pages
- 10
- ISSN
- 1936-0851
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/nn303944f
- Publication date
- 2012
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 210006 Nanotechnology
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/atomistic-description-of-electron-beam-damage-in-nitrogendoped-graphene-and-singlewalled-carbon-nanotubes(8272d81f-bf27-4c34-9a8b-fe64dcc94bfa).html