Organic contaminants and atmospheric nitrogen at the graphene-water interface: a simulation study.

ABSTRACT: Ordered nanoscale patterns have been observed by atomic force microscopy at graphene-water and graphite-water interfaces. The two dominant explanations for these patterns are that (i) they consist of self-assembled organic contaminants or (ii) they are dense layers formed from atmospheric gases (especially nitrogen). Here we apply molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior of dinitrogen and possible organic contaminants at the graphene-water interface. Despite the high concentration of N₂ in ambient air, we find that its expected occupancy at the graphene-water interface is quite low. Although dense (disordered) aggregates of dinitrogen have been observed in previous simulations, our results suggest that they are stable only in the presence of supersaturated aqueous N<

SUBMITTER: Thakkar R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9417612 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature