Home > Press > Phagraphene, a 'relative' of graphene, discovered
This is a phagraphene structure. CREDIT: Artyom Oganov |
Abstract:
A group of scientists from Russia, the USA and China, led by Artyom Oganov from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), using computer generated simulation have predicted the existence of a new two-dimensional carbon material, a "patchwork" analogue of graphene called phagraphene. The results of their investigation were recently published in the journal Nano Letters.
"Unlike graphene, a hexagonal honeycomb structure with atoms of carbon at its junctions, phagraphene consists of penta-, hexa- and heptagonal carbon rings. Its name comes from a contraction of Penta-Hexa-heptA-graphene," says Oganov, head of the MIPT Laboratory of Computer Design.
Two-dimensional materials, composed of a one-atom-thick layer, have attracted great attention from scientists in the last few decades. The first of these materials, graphene, was discovered in 2004 by two MIPT graduates, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov. In 2010 Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for that achievement.
Due to its two-dimensional structure, graphene has absolutely unique properties. Most materials can transmit electric current when unbound electrons have an energy that corresponds to the conduction band of the material. When there is a gap between the range of possible electron energies, the valence band, and the range of conductivity (the so-called forbidden zone), the material acts as an insulator. When the valence band and conduction band overlap, it acts a conductor, and electrons can move under the influence of electric field.
In graphene each carbon atom has three electrons that are bound to electrons in neighboring atoms, forming chemical bonds. The fourth electron of each atom is "delocalized" throughout the whole graphene sheet, which allows it to conduct electrical current. At the same time, the forbidden zone in the graphene has zero width. If you plot the electron energy and their location in graph form, you get a figure resembling an hour glass, i.e. two cones connected by vertices. These are known as Dirac cones.
Due to this unique condition, electrons in graphene behave very strangely: all of them have one and the same velocity (which is comparable to the velocity of light), and they possess no inertia. They appear to have no mass. And, according to the theory of relativity, particles traveling at the velocity of light must behave in this manner. The velocity of electrons in graphene is about 10 thousand kilometers a second (electron velocities in a typical conductor vary from centimeters up to hundreds of meters per second).
Phagraphene, discovered by Oganov and his colleagues through the use of the USPEX algorithm, as well as graphene, is a material where Dirac cones appear, and electrons behave similar to particles without mass.
"In phagraphene, due to the different number of atoms in the rings, the Dirac cones are 'inclined.' That is why the velocity of electrons in it depends on the direction. This is not the case in graphene. It would be very interesting for future practical use to see where it will be useful to vary the electron velocity," Artyom Oganov explains.
Phagraphene possesses all the other properties of graphene that allows it to be considered an advanced material for flexible electronic devices, transistors, solar batteries, display units and many other things.
Phagraphene: A Low-Energy Graphene Allotrope Composed of 5-6-7 Carbon Rings with Distorted Dirac Cones
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02512
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Stanislav Goryachev
7-964-501-2307
Copyright © Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Good as gold - improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles April 5th, 2024
Display technology/LEDs/SS Lighting/OLEDs
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Graphene/ Graphite
NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024
Flexible Electronics
Chip Technology
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024
Nanoelectronics
Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023
Key element for a scalable quantum computer: Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University demonstrate electron transport on a quantum chip September 23rd, 2022
Reduced power consumption in semiconductor devices September 23rd, 2022
Atomic level deposition to extend Moore’s law and beyond July 15th, 2022
Discoveries
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Energy
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
The efficient perovskite cells with a structured anti-reflective layer – another step towards commercialization on a wider scale October 6th, 2023
Solar/Photovoltaic
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
Charged “molecular beasts” the basis for new compounds: Researchers at Leipzig University use “aggressive” fragments of molecular ions for chemical synthesis November 3rd, 2023
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||