Hot topic in Advanced Materials

Ermelinda Maçôas and Inês Mariz from the G8 of CQE together with Araceli G. Campaña and colleagues from the University of Granada revealed the importance of structural defects in the nonlinear optical properties of graphene nanoribbons in a recent article published on Angew Chemie International Edition. By addressing the influence of non-hexagonal rings on the optoelectronic properties of nanographenes, this work shows that the presence of curved edges created by the inclusion of a heptagonal carbocycle enhances the two-photon absorption on graphene nanoribbons. The researchers show that structural defects can be harnessed for tuning the optical response of nanographenes.

The work has been highlighted in ChemViews Magazine and in a hot topic of Advanced Materials dedicated to Carbon, Graphite and Graphene.