Tearing Graphene Sheets From Adhesive Substrates Produces Tapered Nanoribbons

Abstract

Graphene is a truly two-dimensional atomic crystal with exceptional electronic and mechanical properties. Whereas conventional bulk and thin-film materials have been studied extensively, the key mechanical properties of graphene, such as tearing and cracking, remain unknown, partly due to its two-dimensional nature and ultimate single-atom-layer thickness, which result in the breakdown of conventional material models. By combining first-principles ReaxFF molecular dynamics and experimental studies, a bottom-up investigation of the tearing of graphene sheets from adhesive substrates is reported, including the observation of the formation of tapered graphene nanoribbons. Through a careful analysis of the underlying molecular rupture mechanisms, it is shown that the resulting nanoribbon geometry is controlled by both the graphene-substrate adhesion energy and by the number of torn graphene layers. By considering graphene as a model material for a broader class of two-dimensional atomic crystals, these results provide fundamental insights into the tearing and cracking mechanisms of highly confined nanomaterials.

References in corpus (5)

• Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films
• The electronic properties of graphene
• Two Dimensional Atomic Crystals
• Energy Band Gap Engineering of Graphene Nanoribbons
• Edge state on hydrogen-terminated graphite edges investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Twist-controlled resonant tunnelling in graphene-boron nitride-graphene heterostructures
• Study of friction of Ag and Ni nanoparticles: an atomistic approach
• Micromechanics of liquid-phase exfoliation of a layered 2D material: A hydrodynamic peeling model
• Reversible mechanical and electrical properties of ripped graphene
• Linking interlayer twist angle to geometrical parameters of self-assembled folded graphene structures
• Towards nanomechanical models of liquid-phase exfoliation of layered 2D nanomaterials: analysis of a $\pi$-peel model
• Tearing of thin sheets: Cracks interacting through an elastic ridge
• Non-Equilibrium Nature of Fracture Determines the Crack Paths
• Crystallographic orientation errors in mechanical exfoliation
• Critical Peeling of Tethered Nanoribbons