I want to know, how the stacking arrangement of graphene affect its stability ?
Dear Amrish Sharma ,
In the AB-stacking, half of the atoms of the first layer lie in the center of the hexagon of the second layer and the other half of the atoms of the first layer lie over the atoms of the second layer. In the case of the AA-stacking, the atoms of the two layers are perfectly aligned. Thus, the repulsive force between the two layer in the case of AA-stacking is much more than that in the AB-stacking, hence, higher binding energy is required for the AA-stacking as compared with the AB-stacking. Based on that, AB-stacking is the more stable arrangement.
It is the same as in graphite, which is either ABAB or ABCABC stacking. In both cases, the potential well and hence the minimum of energy is obtained when the projection of each C atom corresponds to the center of the hexagonal of the closest C layer (both above and below). It is easy to see with a ball and sticks model. AA stacking would be totally unstable.
Alain
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