English

Domain-dependent surface adhesion in twisted few-layer graphene: Platform for moir\'e-assisted chemistry

Materials Science 2023-05-01 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

Twisted van der Waals multilayers are widely regarded as a rich platform to access novel electronic phases, thanks to the multiple degrees of freedom such as layer thickness and twist angle that allow control of their electronic and chemical properties. Here, we propose that the stacking domains that form naturally due to the relative twist between successive layers act as an additional "knob" for controlling the behavior of these systems, and report the emergence and engineering of stacking domain-dependent surface chemistry in twisted few-layer graphene. Using mid-infrared near-field optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy, we observe a selective adhesion of metallic nanoparticles and liquid water at the domains with rhombohedral stacking configurations of minimally twisted double bi- and tri-layer graphene. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the manipulation of nanoparticles located at certain stacking domains can locally reconfigure the moir\'e superlattice in their vicinity at the {\mu}m-scale. In addition, we report first-principles simulations of the energetics of adhesion of metal atoms and water molecules on the stacking domains in an attempt to elucidate the origin of the observed selective adhesion. Our findings establish a new approach to controlling moir\'e-assisted chemistry and nanoengineering.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2210.10843,
  title  = {Domain-dependent surface adhesion in twisted few-layer graphene: Platform for moir\'e-assisted chemistry},
  author = {Valerie Hsieh and Dorri Halbertal and Nathan R. Finney and Ziyan Zhu and Eli Gerber and Michele Pizzochero and Emine Kucukbenli and Gabriel R. Schleder and Mattia Angeli and Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi and Eun-Ah Kim and Efthimios Kaxiras and James Hone and Cory R. Dean and D. N. Basov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.10843},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

11 pages, 3 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T04:02:06.827Z