Facile synthesis of high-quality graphene nanoribbons

Graphene nanoribbons have attracted attention because of their novel electronic and spin transport properties, and also because nanoribbons less than 10nm wide have a bandgap that can be used to make field-effect transistors. However, producing nanoribbons of very high quality, or in high volumes, remains a challenge. Here, we show that pristine few-layer nanoribbons can be produced by unzipping mildly gas-phase oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes using mechanical sonication in an organic solvent. The nanoribbons are of very high quality, with smooth edges (as seen by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy), low ratios of disorder to graphitic Raman bands, and the highest electrical conductance and mobility reported so far (up to 5e2 /h and 1,500cm-2 V-1 s-1 for ribbons 10-20nm in width). Furthermore, at low temperatures, the nanoribbons show phase-coherent transport and Fabry-Perot interference, suggesting minimal defects and edge roughness. The yield of nanoribbons is ∼2% of the starting raw nanotube soot material, significantly higher than previous methods capable of producing high-quality narrow nanoribbons. The relatively high-yield synthesis of pristine graphene nanoribbons will make these materials easily accessible for a wide range of fundamental and practical applications. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.