Electronic and thermoelectric properties of assembled graphene nanoribbons with elastic strain and structural dislocation

Graphene nanowiggles (GNWs) are one-dimensional wiggle edged graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) that have been synthesized using an atomically precise bottom-up approach. They are known to possess superior thermoelectric properties compared to straight GNRs. Here, first-principles density functional theory calculations establish that these properties can be further enhanced when they undergo a structural dislocation. While such plastic deformation raises the figure of merit ZT above 1 at room temperature, an elastic deformation under uniaxial tension does not increase ZT. The calculations also show that the GNWs possess a Young's modulus (0.82 TPa) smaller than that of their straight GNR counterparts (1.08 TPa). (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics.