Defect enabled formation of multilayered funnel from isolated graphene nanoring

Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the cut defect can induce and guide the self-assembly of an isolated graphene nanoring (GNR) to form multi-layered funnel morphology. The vdW force is the driving force; the tangent component drives the self-assembly of GNR and the normal component adjusts and maintains the vertical distance between graphene layers, which is two times of the vdW radius. Moreover, the offset π-π stacking aids the adjacent layers to achieve the lowest energy of AB stacking. With different diameters of the annular GNRs, the final configurations experience multilayered cone, funnel and tube-shaped structures. It also illustrates the influence of temperature in the funnel-forming process. The wide gap with two edges beyond the cutoff distance of vdW force can utilize fullerenes to help and induce the assembly of the GNR. Cutting defect fissure would be a new way to induce the self-assembly of isolated graphene to design and fabricate new carbon nanostructures without impurities.