Influence of a graphene substrate on the stabilization of molecular systems with hydrogen bonds

Abstract

Numerical simulation of the dynamics of planar two- and three-layer molecular structures formed by $\beta$-sheets of polyglycine peptide chains and systems of parallel Kevlar (para-aramid) molecules placed on a graphene sheet has been performed. It is shown that in these structures the $\beta$-sheets retain their shape, due to the presence of parallel chains of hydrogen bonds, up to a temperature of $T=800$K. An even higher stability is exhibited by the system of parallel Kevlar molecules. Here, the parallel chains of hydrogen bonds between peptide groups of neighboring molecules are preserved even at higher temperatures. The performed modeling allows us to conclude that the addition of graphene to Kevlar fibers can significantly increase their thermal stability.