Crumpling Damaged Graphene

TL;DR

This study investigates how non-covalent interactions influence the fractal properties of crumpled damaged graphene, revealing a reversible transition in fractal dimension and proposing a theoretical model to explain it.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model explaining the impact of non-covalent interactions on the fractality of crumpled damaged graphene, supported by molecular mechanics simulations.

Findings

Fractal dimension of crumpled graphene with all interactions: 2.71

Fractal dimension with suppressed non-covalent interactions: 2.30

Reversible transition between the two fractal states

Abstract

Through molecular mechanics we find that non-covalent interactions modify the fractality of crumpled damaged graphene. Pristine graphene membranes are damaged by adding random vacancies and carbon-hydrogen bonds. Crumpled membranes exhibit a fractal dimension of $ 2.71 \pm 0.02$ when all interactions between carbon atoms are considered, and $2.30 \pm 0.05$ when non-covalent interactions are suppressed. The transition between these two values, obtained by switching on/off the non-covalent interactions of equilibrium configurations, is shown to be reversible and independent on thermalisation. In order to explain this transition, we propose a theoretical model that is compatible with our numerical findings. Finally, we also compare damaged graphene membranes with other crumpled structures, as for instance, polymerised membranes and paper sheets, that share similar scaling properties.