Topological Impact of Delocalization on the Stability and Band Gap of Partially Oxidized Graphene

Strategic perturbations on the graphene framework to inflict a tunable energy band gap promises intelligent electronics that are smaller, faster, flexible, and much more efficient than silicon. Despite different chemical schemes, a clear scalable strategy for micromanaging the band gap is lagging. Since conductivity arises from the delocalized π-electrons, chemical intuition suggests that selective saturation of some sp² carbons will allow strategic control over the band gap. However, the logical cognition of different 2D π-delocalization topologies is complex. Their impact on the thermodynamic stability and band gap remains unknown. Using partially oxidized graphene with its facile and reversible epoxides, we show that delocalization overwhelmingly influences the nature of the frontier bands. Organic electronic effects like hyperconjugation, conjugation, aromaticity, etc. can be used effectively to understand the impact of delocalization. By keeping a constant C₄O stoichiometry, the relative stability of various π-delocalization topologies is directly assessed without resorting to resonance energy concepts. Our results demonstrate that >C=C< and aromatic sextets are the two fundamental blocks resulting in a large band gap in isolation. Extending the delocalization across these units will increase the stability at the expense of the band gap. The band gap is directly related to the extent of bond alternation within the π-framework, with forced single/double bonds causing the large gap. Furthermore, it also establishes the ground rules for the thermodynamic stability associated with the π-delocalization in 2D systems. We anticipate that our findings will provide the heuristic guidance for designing partially saturated graphene with the desired band gap and stability using chemical intuition.