Mechanical properties of hydrogenated electron-irradiated graphene

Abstract

We report a systematic analysis on the effects of hydrogenation on the mechanical behavior of irradiated single-layer graphene sheets, including irradiation-induced amorphous graphene, based on molecular-dynamics simulations of uniaxial tensile straining tests and using an experimentally validated model of electron-irradiated graphene. We find that hydrogenation has a significant effect on the tensile strength of the irradiated sheets only if it changes the hybridization of the hydrogenated carbon atoms to sp3, causing a reduction in the strength of irradiation-induced amorphous graphene by ∼10 GPa. Hydrogenation also causes a substantial decrease in the failure strain of the defective sheets, regardless of the hybridization of the hydrogenated carbon atoms, and in their fracture toughness, which decreases with increasing hydrogenation for a given irradiation dose. We characterize in detail the fracture mechanisms of the hydrogenated irradiated graphene sheets and elucidate the role of hydrogen and the extent of hydrogenation in the deformation and fracture processes. Our study sets the stage for designing hydrogenation and other chemical functionalization strategies toward tailoring the properties of defect-engineered ductile graphene.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 22, 2016
Source ID
10.1063/1.4962716

Entities

People

  • Andre R Muniz
  • Asanka Weerasinghe
  • Ashwin Ramasubramaniam
  • Dimitrios Maroudas

Organizations

  • Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
  • United States Army Research Laboratory
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Polymer Science and Technology
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene