Water Transport Dynamics and Kinetic Equilibria in Nanoblisters at the Graphene-Mica Interface.

Nanoscale reduced volumes with novel properties can be produced from 2D materials like graphene. Mild thermal annealing imposes vast and varied amounts of water intercalation into the graphene-mica interface, resulting in the formation of nanoblisters and impacting the local environment for applications such as reactions confined at the solid-solid interface. Atomic force microscopy imaging (AFM) and micro-Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) spectroscopy characterization after 60-120 °C anneals revealed large volumes of water readily intercalate into graphene-mica nanoblisters, elucidating water transport behavior under mild reaction conditions.

Enhanced Crystallinity of Covalent Organic Frameworks Formed Under Physical Confinement by Exfoliated Graphene.

The polymerization of 1,4-benzenediboronic acid (BDBA) on mica to form a covalent organic framework (COF-1) reveals a dramatic increase in crystallinity when physically confined by exfoliated graphene. COF-1 domains formed under graphene confinement are highly geometric in shape and on the order of square micrometers in size, while outside of the exfoliated flakes, the COF-1 does not exhibit long-range mesoscale structural order, according to atomic force microscopy imaging. Micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the presence of COF-1 both outside and underneath the exfoliated graphene flakes, and density functional theory calculations predict that higher mobility and self-assembly are not causes of this higher degree of crystallinity for the confined COF-1 domains.