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CEE researchers collaborate with Nobel Prize winner

Team explains tearing mechanism of the triangular-shaped ribbons of graphene
This image simulates the tearing of a ribbon from a single-layer graphene sheet attached to an adhesive substrate. The overlay, in silver, shows the torn sheet and the resulting rough edges at the atomic scale. The tearing results in the formation of tapered nanoribbons.
Caption:
This image simulates the tearing of a ribbon from a single-layer graphene sheet attached to an adhesive substrate. The overlay, in silver, shows the torn sheet and the resulting rough edges at the atomic scale. The tearing results in the formation of tapered nanoribbons.
Credits:
Image: Dipanjan Sen

Professors Pedro Reis and Markus Buehler of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and CEE doctoral student Dipanjan Sen recently collaborated on a research project with Konstantin Novoselov, winner of this year's Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of graphene (with Andre Geim). Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of graphite, is an exceedingly strong and highly conductive material.

Reis, who also holds an appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, knew Novoselov from the University of Manchester, and had co-authored a series of papers explaining the consistently triangular-shaped tears that occur when tape, wallpaper and other thin films are pulled away from a surface. Novoselov had observed similar shaped tears when scraping graphene ribbons from graphite. The researchers wondered if the analogous geometric shapes indicate that the behavior is controlled by the same mechanisms at these different scales. Buehler, who uses molecular dynamics simulation to explore materials at the nanoscale, and Sen worked with Reis and Novoselov to carry out atomistic-level simulations to explain the mechanics behind the triangular tears in graphene.

Read about the research results in the summer issue of the CEE research newsletter, On Balance

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