Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol.195, 82-87, 2017
Exploring molecular and spin interactions of Tellurium adatom in reduced graphene oxide
The transport of spin information fundamentally requires favourable molecular architecture and tunable spin moments to make the medium pertinent for spintronic. We report on achieving coherent molecular-spin parameters for rGO due to Tellurium (Te) adatom. Initially, GO prepared using graphite, was modified into rGO by in situ incorporation of 1 (w/w)% of Te. Both the systems were subjected to ESCA, FTIR, Raman dispersion, ESR spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. Analysis revealed that, Te substantially reacted with epoxides, carbonyl, and carboxylate groups that improved C-to-O ratio by twice. However, the spin splitting character, between Te and C, seems to be quenched. Moreover, Te altered the dynamical force constant between C-C and C=C that generated the mechanical stress within rGO network. The layer conjugation, nature of folding, symmetry, and electronic states of the edges were also affected by precipitation and entrapment of Te. The calculated dynamic molecular Raman and ESR spin parameters indicated that, Te acted as a bridging element for long range spin transport. This is particularly due to, the p-orbital moments of Te contributing, vectorially, to spin relaxation process operative at broken inversion symmetry sites. Our study suggests that, facile addition of Te in rGO is useful to achieve favourable spintronic properties. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:rGO spintronics;Tellurium adatom;Improved C-to-O ratio;Bridging element;Molecular spintronics;Spin orbit coupling