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Title: Toughness and strength of nanocrystalline graphene

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10546· OSTI ID:1255548
 [1];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Pristine monocrystalline graphene is claimed to be the strongest material known with remarkable mechanical and electrical properties. However, graphene made with scalable fabrication techniques is polycrystalline and contains inherent nanoscale line and point defects—grain boundaries and grain-boundary triple junctions—that lead to significant statistical fluctuations in toughness and strength. These fluctuations become particularly pronounced for nanocrystalline graphene where the density of defects is high. Here we use large-scale simulation and continuum modelling to show that the statistical variation in toughness and strength can be understood with ‘weakest-link’ statistics. We develop the first statistical theory of toughness in polycrystalline graphene, and elucidate the nanoscale origins of the grain-size dependence of its strength and toughness. Lastly, our results should lead to more reliable graphene device design, and provide a framework to interpret experimental results in a broad class of two-dimensional materials.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1255548
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1415954
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 139 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (44)

Mechanical properties of two-dimensional materials and their applications journal December 2018
Rupture of amorphous graphene via void formation journal January 2018
Van der Waals Epitaxy on Freestanding Monolayer Graphene Membrane by MBE text January 2021
Nonlinear fracture toughness measurement and crack propagation resistance of functionalized graphene multilayers journal April 2018
Nanomechanical properties of single- and double-layer graphene spirals: a molecular dynamics simulation journal April 2019
Grain-Boundary-Induced Drastic Sensing Performance Enhancement of Polycrystalline-Microwire Printed Gas Sensors journal November 2018
Bandgap prediction by deep learning in configurationally hybridized graphene and boron nitride journal February 2019
Nanopatched Graphene with Molecular Self‐Assembly Toward Graphene–Organic Hybrid Soft Electronics journal April 2018
A review on thermo-mechanical properties of bi-crystalline and polycrystalline 2D nanomaterials journal April 2019
Revealing the 3D Structure of Graphene Defects preprint January 2018
Brittle Fracture of 2D MoSe 2 journal November 2016
Self‐Powered Photodetectors Based on 2D Materials journal September 2019
Scaling properties of polycrystalline graphene: a review journal December 2016
The effect of STW defects on the mechanical properties and fracture toughness of pristine and hydrogenated graphene journal January 2017
A Review on Brittle Fracture Nanomechanics by All-Atom Simulations text January 2019
Elucidating the Coir Particle Filler Interaction in Epoxy Polymer Composites at Low Strain Rate journal February 2019
Predicting surface deformation during mechanical attrition of metallic alloys journal March 2019
Graphene ribbons with suspended masses as transducers in ultra-small nanoelectromechanical accelerometers journal September 2019
Nanomechanics of graphene journal June 2018
The strength of mechanically-exfoliated monolayer graphene deformed on a rigid polymer substrate journal January 2019
Fabrication the hybrization of ZnO nanorods–Graphene nanoslices and their electrochemical properties to Levodopa in the presence of uric acid journal August 2018
Glass Transition and Crystallization in Hexagonal Boron Nitride: Crucial Role of Orientational Order journal November 2019
Holey graphene: an emerging versatile material journal January 2020
Tailoring the mechanical properties of 2D materials and heterostructures journal June 2018
Ultrahigh Thermal Conductive yet Superflexible Graphene Films journal May 2017
Using graphene networks to build bioinspired self-monitoring ceramics journal February 2017
Ultrafast growth of nanocrystalline graphene films by quenching and grain-size-dependent strength and bandgap opening journal October 2019
Molecular dynamics based simulations to study the fracture strength of monolayer graphene oxide journal February 2018
3D Finite Element Simulation of Graphene Nano-Electro-Mechanical Switches journal August 2016
Mechanical Properties of Atomically Thin Boron Nitride and the Role of Interlayer Interactions text January 2020
Tailoring the performance of bamboo filler reinforced epoxy composite: insights into fracture properties and fracture mechanism journal February 2019
Elastic straining of free-standing monolayer graphene journal January 2020
Large-scale nanoelectromechanical switches based on directly deposited nanocrystalline graphene on insulating substrates journal January 2016
Grain size and hydroxyl-coverage dependent tribology of polycrystalline graphene journal July 2019
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Sliding Over Graphene Grain Boundaries: A Step Towards Macroscale Superlubricity preprint January 2020
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Infusion of Graphene Quantum Dots to Create Stronger, Tougher, and Brighter Polymer Composites journal August 2017
A Review on Brittle Fracture Nanomechanics by All-Atom Simulations journal July 2019
Revealing the 3D structure of graphene defects journal September 2018
Mechanical properties of atomically thin boron nitride and the role of interlayer interactions journal June 2017
A review on graphene-based polymer composite coatings for the corrosion protection of metals journal August 2019
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Stretchability of PMMA-supported CVD graphene and of its electrical contacts journal October 2019

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