Do defects enhance fluorination of graphene?

Abstract

Controlling the functionalization of graphene is essential for many applications. Here, we probed the reactivity of monolayer and bilayer graphene samples with intentionally prepared specific numbers of defects. Fluorination was used as a model reaction. We demonstrate that the reactivity of the single-layer graphene is not significantly affected by oxygen plasma-generated defects. On the other hand in the case of graphene bilayers, a decrease in the reactivity was observed for a small number of new defects, while an increase in reactivity was found for a larger number of defects. The long-term stability test of the fluorinated samples showed that minor changes in the sample occur during the first week after fluorination.