Effects of charging and electric field on graphene functionalized with titanium

Titanium atoms are adsorbed to graphene with a significant binding energy and render diverse functionalities to it. Carrying out first-principles calculations, we investigated the effects of charging and static electric field on the physical and chemical properties of graphene covered by Ti adatoms. When uniformly Ti covered graphene is charged positively, its antiferromagnetic ground state changes to ferromagnetic metal and attains a permanent magnetic moment. Static electric field applied perpendicularly causes charge transfer between Ti and graphene, and can induce metal–insulator transition. While each Ti adatom adsorbed to graphene atom can hold four hydrogen molecules with a weak binding, these molecules can be released by charging or applying electric field perpendicularly. Hence, it is demonstrated that charging and applied static electric field induce quasi-continuous and side specific modifications in the charge distribution and potential energy of adatoms absorbed to single-layer nanostructures, resulting in fundamentally crucial effects on their physical and chemical properties. (paper)