Guided fractures in graphene mechanical diode-like structures

Abstract

The concept of a diode is usually applied to electronic and thermal devices but very rarely for mechanical ones. A recently proposed fracture rectification effect in polymer-based structures with triangular void defects has motivated us to test these ideas at the nanoscale using graphene membranes. Using fully-atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations we showed that robust rectification-like effects exist. The fracture can be 'guided' to more easily propagate along one specific direction than its opposite. We also observed that there is an optimal value for the spacing between each void for the rectification effect.