Construction of halogenated graphenes by halogenation of hydrogenated graphene

Abstract

As important graphene derivatives, halogenated graphenes have attracted lots of attention in recent years. Among halogenated graphenes, fluorographene has been extensively studied while research on other halogenated graphenes are still rare. In this work, chlorinated and brominated graphenes composed of chlorine/bromine and hydrogenated graphene were prepared via halogenation of hydrogenated graphene. Taking into account that hydrogenated graphene is also a kind of special alkane, we referred to the surface chlorination and bromination reactions of sp3 C–H bond in alkane molecules and chlorinated/brominated graphenes as special composites of C–Cl/Br and C–H bonds on graphene substrates were obtained. This work reveals that sp3 C–H bond in the surface of hydrogenated graphene has similar reactivity compared to that in common alkanes and presents new approaches to chlorinated and brominated graphenes though the conversion of reactive sp3 C–H bonds into C–Cl or C–Br bonds is still insufficient.