Mechanical Properties of Graphene Papers – Berkay Basagaoglu

Mechanical Properties of Graphene Papers – Berkay Basagaoglu

Graphene is currently referred to as the “super material” of the material world due to its outstanding mechanical properties. Graphene is a highly ordered structure of carbon arranged in a hexagonal pattern, which contains strong sp2 hybridized bonds and intralayer crosslinks. Stacking graphene layers utilizing interlayer crosslinks allows larger graphene sheets to be constructed.

The efficient load transfer in graphene is carried out through load distribution between the intralayer and interlayer crosslinks. Intralayer crosslinks break first and elastic energy is distributed, which allows the load to be sustained by the interlayer crosslinks, this allows graphene to bear the load after failure starts.

The strength of Graphene is estimated to be around 10 GPa, which is 200-300 times the strength of steel, thus allowing many applications. In addition, graphene is an excellent thermal conductor due to the hexagonal lattice having the longest mean free path, 65 microns, of any known material., thus there is minimal resistance.

http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1105/1105.0138.pdf