Intensive studies are published for graphene-based molecular magnets due to their remarkable electric, thermal, and mechanical properties. However, to date, most of all produced molecular magnets are ligand based and subject to challenges regarding the stability of the ligand(s). The lack of long-range coupling limits high operating temperature and leads to a short-range magnetic order. Herein, we introduce an aminoferrocene-based graphene system with room temperature superparamagnetic behavior in the long-range magnetic order that exhibits colossal magnetocrystalline anisotropy of 8 × 105 and 3 × 107 J/m3 in aminoferrocene and graphene-based aminoferrocene, respectively. These values are comparable to and even two orders of magnitude larger than pure iron metal. Aminoferrocene [C10H11FeN]+ is synthesized by an electrophilic substitution reaction. It was then reacted with graphene oxide that was prepared by the modified Hammers method. The phase structure and functionalization of surface groups were characterized and confirmed by XRD, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. To model the behavior of the aminoferrocene between two sheets of hydroxylated graphene, we have used density functional theory by placing the aminoferrocene molecule between two highly ordered hydroxylated sheets and allowing the structure to relax. The strong bowing of the isolated graphene sheets suggests that the charge transfer and resulting magnetization could be strongly influenced by pressure effects. In contrast to strategies based on ligands surface attachment, our present work that uses interlayer intercalated aminoferrocene opens routes for future molecular magnets as well as the design of qubit arrays and quantum systems.
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5 June 2023
Research Article|
June 12 2023
Room temperature colossal superparamagnetic order in aminoferrocene–graphene molecular magnets
Yohannes W. Getahun
;
Yohannes W. Getahun
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft)
1
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso
, El Paso, Texas 79968, USA
2
Environmental Science and Engineering, Material Science & Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso
, El Paso, Texas 79968, USA
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Felicia S. Manciu
;
Felicia S. Manciu
(Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Writing – original draft)
1
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso
, El Paso, Texas 79968, USA
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Mark R. Pederson
;
Mark R. Pederson
(Data curation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso
, El Paso, Texas 79968, USA
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Ahmed A. El-Gendy
Ahmed A. El-Gendy
a)
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso
, El Paso, Texas 79968, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: aelgendy@utep.edu
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: aelgendy@utep.edu
Appl. Phys. Lett. 122, 241903 (2023)
Article history
Received:
April 05 2023
Accepted:
May 29 2023
Citation
Yohannes W. Getahun, Felicia S. Manciu, Mark R. Pederson, Ahmed A. El-Gendy; Room temperature colossal superparamagnetic order in aminoferrocene–graphene molecular magnets. Appl. Phys. Lett. 5 June 2023; 122 (24): 241903. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0153212
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