Periodically Modulated Size-Dependent Elastic Properties of Armchair Graphene Nanoribbons

First-principles calculations were conducted on armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) to simulate the elastic behavior of AGNRs with hydrogen-terminated and bare edges. The results show width-dependent elastic properties with a periodicity of three, which depends on the nature of edge. The edge eigenstress and eigendisplacement models are able to predict the width-dependent nominal Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio, while the Clar structure explains the crucial role of edges in the periodically modulated size-dependent elastic properties.