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Hidden Area and Mechanical Nonlinearities in Freestanding Graphene
Ryan J T Nicholl1, Nickolay V Lavrik2, Ivan Vlassiouk3
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|July 15, 2017
Summary
Out-of-plane crumpling significantly alters graphene membrane mechanics. Even slight crumpling (0.5%-1.0%) causes an anomalous nonlinear Hooke
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Graphene membranes exhibit unique mechanical properties.
- Understanding the impact of structural defects like crumpling is crucial for applications.
- Out-of-plane deformations can significantly influence material behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of out-of-plane crumpling on the mechanical response of graphene membranes.
- To quantify the relationship between crumpling geometry and mechanical behavior.
- To determine the mechanical properties of crumpled graphene under biaxial stress.
Main Methods:
- Applying stress to graphene membranes using pressurized gas.
- Monitoring strain states with interferometric profilometry and Raman spectroscopy.
- Calculating geometric hidden area to quantify crumpling strength.
Main Results:
- Graphene membranes with minimal crumpling (hidden area ~0%) exhibit linear mechanics with a biaxial stiffness of 428±10 N/m.
- Specimens with 0.5%-1.0% hidden area display anomalous nonlinear Hooke's law behavior.
- The nonlinear response is characterized by an exponent of approximately 0.1.
Conclusions:
- Out-of-plane crumpling introduces significant nonlinearities into the mechanical response of graphene.
- Crumpling strength, quantified by hidden area, directly correlates with deviations from linear elasticity.
- These findings are critical for designing and predicting the performance of graphene-based devices under mechanical load.
