X-ray chemical imaging and the electronic structure of a single nanoplatelet Ni/graphene composite.

Chemical imaging and quantitative analysis of a single graphene nanoplatelet grown with Ni nanoparticles (Ni/graphene) has been performed by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). Local electronic and chemical structure of Ni/graphene has been investigated by spatially resolved C, O K-edges and Ni L-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, revealing the covalent anchoring of Ni(0) on graphene. This study facilitates the understanding of the structure modification of host materials for hydrogen storage and offers a better understanding of interaction between Ni particles and graphene.