Creation of graphene allotropes using patterned defects

Monolithic structures can be built into graphene by the addition and subsequent re-arrangement of carbon atoms. To this end, ad-dimers of carbon are a particularly attractive building block because a number of emerging technologies offer the promise of precisely placing them on carbon surfaces. In concert with the more common Stone–Thrower–Wales defect, repeating patterns can be introduced to create as yet unrealized materials. The idea of building such allotropes out of defects is new, and we demonstrate the technique by constructing two-dimensional carbon allotropes known as haeckelite. We then extend the idea to create a new class of membranic carbon allotropes that we call dimerite, composed exclusively of ad-dimer defects.