[New graphene nano-ribbons lend sensors unprecedented sensitivity | University Communications | 10/20/2017]
Pinning DNA-sized ribbons of carbon to a gas sensor can boost its sensitivity far better than any other known carbon material, says a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The team developed a new form of nano-ribbon made from graphene, a 2-D honeycomb of carbon atoms. When the researchers integrated a film of the nano-ribbons into the circuitry of a gas sensor, it responded about 100 times more sensitively to molecules than did sensors featuring even the best-performing carbon-based materials.

[UNL chemists: New 2-D material’s properties show promise | University Communications | 6/23/2015]
One completed a series of theoretical calculations to predict its properties with the help of a massive computing center. The other grew it in bulk before waxing its atom-thin whiskers with the assistance of adhesive tape.

Together, University of Nebraska-Lincoln chemists Xiao Cheng Zeng and Alexander Sinitskii have demonstrated that a compound called titanium trisulfide could surge toward the fore of two-dimensional materials that are gaining popularity among designers of microelectronics.

A good start to the year 2015! Two papers from our group have been published by ACS journals in January. Alexey’s paper on electropolymerization of poly(phenylene oxide) on graphene was published in Chemistry of Materials, and Peter’s paper on thermal stabilization of metallic nanostructures by graphene coatings was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Alexandra, Tim and Adam also contributed to these studies. Congratulations!

The improvements in random access memory that have driven many advances of the digital age owe much to the innovative application of physics and chemistry at the atomic scale.

Accordingly, a team led by UNL researchers has employed a Nobel Prize-winning material and common household chemical to enhance the properties of a component primed for the next generation of high-speed, high-capacity RAM.
The team, which published its findings in the Nov. 24 edition of the journal Nature Communications, engineered and tested improvements in the performance of a memory structure known as a ferroelectric tunnel junction.

A paper by Tim Vo et al. on bottom-up synthesis of atomically precise nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (N-GNRs) was published in Chemical Communications. The ribbons were synthesized by Yamamoto coupling of molecular precursors containing nitrogen atoms followed by cyclodehydrogenation using Scholl reaction. The paper was featured in the Chemical Communications Blog. Great job, Tim!

A paper on the bottom-up solution synthesis of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons by Timothy Vo et al. was published in Nature Communications. This study demonstrates a novel bottom–up approach that yields gram quantities of high-aspect-ratio graphene nanoribbons, which are only ~1 nm wide and have atomically smooth armchair edges. These ribbons are shown to have a large electronic bandgap and can be potentially used for the fabrication of electronic devices.

Great job, Tim!

UNL Communications has published a press release that is available at the link below.

Alexandra was featured in the promo video of the UNL Nanoscience Research Center.