  Pristine graphene interacts relatively weakly with Al, which is a specie of
importance for novel generations of metal-ion batteries. We employ DFT
calculations to explore the possibility of enhancing Al interaction with
graphene. We investigate non-doped and N-doped graphene nanoribbons, address
the impact of the edge sites, which are always present to some extent in real
samples, and N-containing defects on the material's reactivity towards Al. The
results are compared to that of pristine graphene. We show that introduction of
edges does not affect the energetics of Al adsorption significantly by itself.
On the other hand, N-doping of graphene nanoribbons is found to affect the
adsorption energy of Al to the extent that strongly depends on the type of
N-containing defect. While graphitic and pyrrolic N induce minimal changes, the
introduction of edge NO group and doping with in plane pyridinic N result in Al
adsorption nearly twice as strong as on pristine graphene. The obtained results
could guide the further design of advanced materials for Al-ion rechargeable
batteries.
