(648b) Novel Chemical Schemes to Functionalize Graphene without Introducing Defects: Avenue for Building Sensitive Graphene Sensors

In this talk, we will present novel approaches for interfacing and functionalizing graphene sheets with biological and physical molecules via non-covalent bond to retain the electrical properties of graphene while introducing molecule-recognition specificity. Graphene has received tremendous research attention over recent years which can largely be attributed to its unique electrical & mechanical properties with a surface construct that is atomic-scale thick and yet is multi micron-scale large. While the atomic thickness imparts electronic confinement, graphene's large area provides excellent potential for detecting molecules via surface interaction. However, the current surface modification schemes introduce several defects in graphene by removing the pi-electrons and significantly degenerate graphene's superior properties. Here, non-covalent interfacing on graphene will be demonstrated as an effective method to facilitate defect-free functionalization to retain graphene's superior properties. Further The resultant change in electrical properties of graphene will also be illustrated. We will show the conjugate's detection sensitivity for DNA & protein sensing. We envision that by leveraging the non-covalent chemistry on graphene, a novel class of defect free graphene-hybrids can be fabricated with tunable physico-chemical and electrical properties for advanced applications in biological/chemical sensing, nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and catalysis.