Tunable bandgap of a single layer graphene doped by the manganese oxide using the electrochemical doping

We studied the control of the bandgap energy of graphene by doping manganese oxide nanoparticles using an electrochemical method. The manganese oxide doping into the graphene was a main role for the bandgap opening and the defect generation was an effective method to increase the density of Mn doping on the graphene. The measured bandgap increased and finally saturated at 0.256 eV as the concentration of manganese oxide nanoparticles increased. The bandgap energies were 0.22, 0.244, 0.250, and 0.256 eV at the applied voltage of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 V, respectively. In addition, the defect generation by the plasma treatment resulted in improved formations of the bandgap energy up to 0.4 eV. The combination of the manganese oxide doping and the defect generation can enhance the bandgap energy effectively in the graphene. It is considered that the electrochemical doping technique is an effective way to control the bandgap energy of graphene.