Atomistic and continuum modelling of graphene and graphene-derived carbon nanostructures

Abstract

Nanometer sized particles formed by carbon atoms mainly arranged in a hexagonal atomic structure are called carbon nanostructures (CNS). In this chapter we focus exclusively on sp 2-bonded CNS that include graphene (Geim, 2009; Geim and Novoselov, 2007), single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Iijima, 1991; Pantano et al., 2004), fullerenes (Kroto et al., 1985), and carbon onions (Banhart and Ajayan, 1996; Kroto, 1992; Ugarte, 1992, 1995). Especially graphene has drawn a lot of attention within the last years, because it possesses exceptional mechanical and electrical properties (Geim, 2009; Novoselov et al., 2004) and a high thermal conductivity (Lau et al., 2012). It is the main building block of all other CNS based on sp 2-bonded carbon, which therefore should inherit its exceptional properties making them promising candidates for applications in the field of structural mechanics and the electronics industry, as fillers in nanocomposites (Choi and Lee, 2012; Baughman et al., 2002; Stankovich et al., 2006) and as solid lubricants (Hirata et al., 2004). This chapter will focus on the amazing mechanical properties of CNS only. Information regarding the extraordinary electronic and thermal properties can be found elsewhere (Novoselov et al., 2004; Castro Neto et al., 2009; Balandin, 2011).