Topological mechanochemistry of graphene

TL;DR

This paper explores how uniaxial tension affects the topology and chemical properties of graphene, revealing anisotropic mechanical behavior and the influence of edge modifications on its deformation.

Contribution

It introduces a topological perspective to mechanochemistry in graphene, highlighting the effects of mechanical loading and edge chemistry on its deformation behavior.

Findings

Mechanical deformation of graphene is highly anisotropic.

Edge chemical modifications significantly influence deformation.

Topological effects are crucial in understanding graphene's mechanochemistry.

Abstract

In view of a formal topology, two common terms, namely, connectivity and adjacency, determine the quality of C-C bonds of sp2 nanocarbons. The feature is the most sensitive point of the inherent topology of the species so that such external action as mechanical deformation should obviously change it and result in particular topological effects. The current paper describes the effects caused by uniaxial tension of a graphene molecule in due course of a mechanochemical reaction. Basing on the molecular theory of graphene, the effects are attributed to both mechanical loading and chemical modification of edge atoms of the molecule. The mechanical behavior is shown to be not only highly anisotropic with respect to the direction of the load application, but greatly dependent on the chemical modification of the molecule edge atoms thus revealing topological character of the graphene deformation.