Stone-wales defect in nanographene structure

Nanographenes are cornerstone materials due to their increasingly active role in functional devices, but their synthesis in solution encounters size and shape limitations. New on-surface routes facilitate the synthesis of large and insoluble planar systems with atomic precision. However mostly benzenoid structures are being produced. Here we have used on-surface synthesis to incorporate bi-azulene moieties in a large aromatic carbon nanostructure. Bond-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy is used to characterize this exotic compound on Au(111). 

Image taken by Jeremy Gerard Hieulle.