Grain boundaries with octagonal defects in graphene nanoribbons and nanotubes

Abstract

We study graphene nanoribbons and carbon nanotubes containing ordered defect lines built of octagonal rings. We show that octagonal defect lines are a robust source of state localization at the Fermi energy, in some cases leading to spontaneous magnetization. We also prove that the localization at chains of octagons is a consequence of the zigzag nature of the graphene edges forming the defect lines. © 2013 American Physical Society.