Programmable hydrogenation of graphene for novel nanocages

Abstract

Folded graphene has exhibited novel electrical and mechanical properties unmatched by pristine graphene, which implies that morphology of graphene adds the dimensionality of design space to tailor its properties. However, how to overcome the energy barrier of the folding process to fold the graphene with the specific morphology remains unexplored. Here we propose a programmable chemical functionalization by doping a pristine graphene sheet in a certain pattern with hydrogen atoms to precisely control its folding morphology. Molecular dynamics simulation has been performed to create a cross-shaped cubic graphene nanocage encapsulating a biomolecule by warping the top graphene layer downward and the bottom graphene layer upward to mimic the drug delivery vehicle. Such a paradigm, programmable enabled graphene nanocage, opens up a new avenue to control the 3D architecture of folded graphene and therefore provides a feasible way to exploit and fabricate the graphene-based unconventional nanomaterials and nanodevices for drug delivery.