New method helps assess mechanical behavior of graphene nanosheets that contain defects

Graphene’s structure sometimes includes rings of five or seven carbon atoms instead of the usual six. These “defects” change the sheet’s shape – five-membered rings make it cone-like, while seven-membered rings give it a saddle shape. Until now, it was hard to measure how these defects affect the sheet’s ability to bend without using complicated experiments. The new approach combines powerful computer simulations and a theory used for describing the bending of biological membranes. This makes it possible to predict how sheets with different types or arrangements of defects will bend, just by looking at their atomic structure.

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Nagoya University have created a new way to study the mechanical behavior of graphene nanosheets. The technique enables direct measurement of bending rigidity in sheets with structural defects, without the need for laboratory experiments. Graphene’s structure sometimes includes rings of five or seven carbon atoms instead of the usual six. These “defects” change the sheet’s shape – five-membered rings make it cone-like, while seven-membered rings give it a saddle shape. Until now, it was hard to measure how these defects affect the sheet’s ability to bend without using complicated experiments. The new approach combines powerful computer simulations and a theory used for describing the bending of biological membranes. This makes it possible to predict how sheets with different types or arrangements of defects will bend, just by looking at their atomic structure.

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