Plasma to the rescue: A path-setting method to enable vast applications for a promising nanomaterial

The absence of a property called a band gap in graphene restricts its ability to function as a semiconductor. The dilemma has led scientists to explore ways to produce a band gap in graphene. One popular method has been to chemically modify the surface of graphene with hydrogen, a process called "hydrogenation." But the conventional way of doing this can seriously damage the surface of graphene within seconds or minutes. Now, scientists at Princeton University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have developed a novel method for hydrogenating graphene that uses low-temperature hydrogen plasma.