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Remarkably Enhanced Dynamic Oxygen Migration on Graphene Oxide Supported by Copper Substrate

The dynamic covalent properties of graphene oxide (GO) are of fundamental interest to a broad range of scientific areas and technological applications. It remains a challenge to access the feasible dynamic reactions for reversibly breaking/reforming covalent bonds of oxygen functional groups on GO, although these reactions can be induced by photonic or mechanical routes, or mediated by adsorbed water. Here, using the density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate the remarkably enhanced dynamic oxygen migration along the basal plane of GO supported by copper substrate (GO@copper), with the C-O bond breaking reaction and proton transfer between the neighboring epoxy and hydroxyl groups. Compared to that on GO, the energy barrier of oxygen migration on GO@copper is sharply reduced to be less than or comparable to thermal fluctuations, and meanwhile the crystallographic match between GO and copper substrate induces new oxygen migration paths on GO@copper. This work sheds light on the understanding of metal substrate-enhanced dynamic properties of GO, and evidences the strategy to tune the activity of two-dimension-interfacial oxygen groups for various potential applications.