Substrate-Independent Growth of Atomically Precise Chiral Graphene Nanoribbons

Contributing to the need of new graphene nanoribbon (GNR) structures that can be synthesized with atomic precision, we have designed a reactant that renders chiral (3,1) - GNRs after a multi-step reaction including Ullmann coupling and cyclodehydrogenation. The nanoribbon synthesis has been successfully proved on different coinage metals, and the formation process, together with the fingerprints associated to each reaction step, has been studied combining scanning tunnelling microscopy, core-level spectroscopy and density functional calculations. In addition to the GNR chiral edge structure, the substantial GNR lengths achieved and the low processing temperature required to complete the reaction grant this reactant extremely interesting properties for potential applications.