Multiply Folded Graphene

Abstract

The folding of paper, hide, and woven fabric has been used for millennia to achieve enhanced articulation, curvature, and visual appeal for intrinsically flat, two-dimensional materials. For graphene, an ideal two-dimensional material, folding may transform it to complex shapes with new and distinct properties. Here, we present experimental results that folded structures in graphene, termed grafold, exist, and their formations can be controlled by introducing anisotropic surface curvature during graphene synthesis or transfer processes. Using pseudopotential-density functional theory calculations, we also show that double folding modifies the electronic band structure of graphene. Furthermore, we demonstrate the intercalation of C60 into the grafolds. Intercalation or functionalization of the chemically reactive folds further expands grafold's mechanical, chemical, optical, and electronic diversity.

29 pages, 10 figures (accepted in Phys. Rev. B)

References in corpus (8)

• Quantum ESPRESSO: a modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials
• The electronic properties of graphene
• The structure of suspended graphene sheets
• Biased bilayer graphene: semiconductor with a gap tunable by electric field effect
• Ripple Texturing of Suspended Graphene Atomic Membranes
• Dependence of band structures on stacking and field in layered graphene
• Gauge fields and interferometry in folded graphene
• Zero Landau level in folded graphene nanoribbons

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Low energy graphene edge termination via small diameter nanotube formation