Abstract
Two-dimensional auxetic materials with negative Poisson's ratio expand in response to a tensile strain in cross-section. Such counter-intuitive behaviours have been mainly ascribed to concave structures with ideal rigid ball-stick models. Here, based on first-principles calculations, we systematically analyze the mechanical behaviours of three life-boat structured two-dimensional (2D) materials and report two new auxetic materials: δ-arsenic and δ-graphane. The calculated Poisson's ratio values are correlated with Young's modulus, cohesive energy, and valence shell electron pair repulsion of isostructures. Combining with previous research, we provide a self-consistent explanation of the origin of the 2D in-plane negative Poisson's ratio and an algorithmic route to discover new auxetic materials by comparing the energy restored in bond rotation and stretch.