Review Article: Hydrogenated graphene: A user’s guide

Abstract

Graphene’s chemical versatility is unique among two-dimensional materials. One of the simplest and most well-studied chemical modifications of graphene is hydrogenation. The electronic, optical, and mechanical properties of hydrogenated graphene can differ significantly from those of unmodified graphene, and the tunability of these properties has played a major factor in the broad interest in hydrogenated graphene throughout the scientific community. Here, the author presents a practical review of the state of the art in hydrogenated graphene research. The target audience is the researcher who is interested in working with hydrogenated graphene but lacks practical experience with the material. The author focuses on considerations of the working scientist, highlighting subtleties in preparation and characterization that are generally only gained by experience in the laboratory. In addition, the author enumerates a number of the most important categories of results concerning the properties of hydrogenated graphene. In particular, the author examines what these results mean for potential near- and long-term applications of hydrogenated graphene.