Laser-engineered heavy hydrocarbons: Old materials with new opportunities

X Zang and C Jian and S Ingersoll and HS Li and JJ Adams and Z Lu and N Ferralis and JC Grossman, SCIENCE ADVANCES, 6, eaaz5231 (2020).

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz5231

Polycyclic heavy hydrocarbons (HHs) such as coal, tar, and pitch are a family of materials with extremely rich and complex chemistry, representing a massive opportunity for their use in a range of potential applications. The present work shows that optimal selection of initial HHs based on molecular constituents is essential in tuning the material for a particular and targeted electronic application. Combining the selection of feedstock chemistry (H:C and aromatic content) and controlling variable laser treatment parameters (laser power, speed, and focus) lead to full control over the H:C ratio, sp(2) concentration, and degree of graphitic stacking order of the products. The broad intertunability of these factors results from a wide distribution of carbon material crystallinity from amorphous to highly graphitic and a broad distribution of electrical conductivity up to 10(3) S/m.

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