Ab – initio study on the stability and electronic property of graphene
nanosheets: Applications to batteries
Abstract
We have carried out detailed ab-initio based density functional theory
calculations on pristine graphene and pristine graphene nanosheets
containing 8, 18, and 32 carbon atoms by constructing supercells, both
with and without functionalizing the supercells with different
functionalizing groups. After optimizing all the supercells, we
calculated the variations in the transverse displacement of carbon
atoms, changes in C-C and C-O bond length, and bond angles both in terms
of supercell size and functionalizing groups, in order to infer the
structural stability. Further, we computed the band structure, total
density of states to understand the changes in the hybridization between
states and deviations in the Dirac point near the Fermi energy as a
result of functionalizing the supercells with different functionalizing
groups. Finally, we calculated the excessive surface charge density, Σ
and quantum capacitance, C_q of all graphene nanosheets from the
density of state using the two – dimensional free – electron model, to
find the suitability of these graphene nanosheets as potential cathode
materials in battery applications.