#phagraphene

Phagraphene, a ‘relative’ of graphene, discovered

A group of scientists from Russia, the USA and China, led by Artyom Oganov from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), using computer generated simulation have predicted the existence of a new two-dimensional carbon material, a “patchwork” analogue of graphene called phagraphene. The results of their investigation were recently published in the journal Nano Letters.

“Unlike graphene, a hexagonal honeycomb structure with atoms of carbon at its junctions, phagraphene consists of penta-, hexa- and heptagonal carbon rings. Its name comes from a contraction of Penta-Hexa-heptA-graphene,” says Oganov, head of the MIPT Laboratory of Computer Design.

Two-dimensional materials, composed of a one-atom-thick layer, have attracted great attention from scientists in the last few decades. The first of these materials, graphene, was discovered in 2004 by two MIPT graduates, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov. In 2010 Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for that achievement.

Due to its two-dimensional structure, graphene has absolutely unique properties. Most materials can transmit electric current when unbound electrons have an energy that corresponds to the conduction band of the material. When there is a gap between the range of possible electron energies, the valence band, and the range of conductivity (the so-called forbidden zone), the material acts as an insulator. When the valence band and conduction band overlap, it acts a conductor, and electrons can move under the influence of electric field.

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