Stress concentrations in nanoscale defective graphene

Abstract

Defect-free graphene nanosheets are the strongest material known but manufactured graphene tends to contain flaws of different forms and dimensions, leading to the degradation of mechanical performance. Here we report a quantitative mechanical approach to quantitatively evaluate the influence of defects within exfoliated pristine graphene sheets. Results indicate stress concentrations around defects within graphene sheets that lower strength. The description of stress concentration broadly follows a Griffith strength approach for continuum materials, despite the non-continuum structure of graphene, but has little impact on the Young’s modulus.