Ricerc@Sapienza

The main objective of this work is to improve the electronic and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes and other two-dimensional materials, such as nano-porous graphene, by doping the surface with alkali metals. One possible application is hydrogen storage, since the doping with potassium is expected to improve the bond between the hydrogen molecules and the graphene-lattice, thanks to an enhanced multipolar interaction, leading to a different desorption temperature and behaviour. This analysis will be carried out by temperature programmed desorption (TPD) to determine the adsorption energy, and by UV and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to characterize the bonding and electronic spectral density of states.