Insights into Graphene Nanostructures, Fabrication Techniques, Mechanical, and Functional Behavior Characterization

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Graphene, a 2D carbon nanomaterial, exhibits exceptional properties making it suitable for advanced applications.
• Existing reviews lack a comprehensive assessment of various graphene forms and their mechanical characterization.
• A critical need exists for a unified understanding of graphene's mechanical behavior across different structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an in-depth overview of graphene variants, including structural configurations, physical properties, and applications.
• To systematically discuss fabrication and synthesis strategies for diverse graphene forms.
• To present a comprehensive assessment of mechanical characterization methodologies and comparative analysis of results.

Main Methods:

• Review of experimental techniques: in situ SEM/TEM, AFM, nanoindentation, tensile testing, Raman spectroscopy.
• Review of computational methods: MD, DFT, coarse-grained modeling, continuum mechanics simulations.
• Comparative analysis of experimentally measured versus computationally predicted mechanical properties.

Main Results:

• Detailed overview of monolayer, bilayer, few-layer, multilayer graphene, and functionalized derivatives.
• Systematic discussion of synthesis and fabrication methods for various graphene forms.
• Elucidation of discrepancies between experimental and computational mechanical property predictions.

Conclusions:

• This review serves as a comprehensive reference for researchers in nanomaterials, mechanics, and multifunctional systems.
• It provides a critical foundation for future research on graphene nanostructures.
• It highlights the potential of graphene for next-generation technologies through a deep understanding of its mechanical characteristics.