Measurement of the Elastic Properties and Intrinsic Strength of Monolayer Graphene
18 Jul 2008-Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)-Vol. 321, Iss: 5887, pp 385-388
TL;DR: Graphene is established as the strongest material ever measured, and atomically perfect nanoscale materials can be mechanically tested to deformations well beyond the linear regime.
Abstract: We measured the elastic properties and intrinsic breaking strength of free-standing monolayer graphene membranes by nanoindentation in an atomic force microscope. The force-displacement behavior is interpreted within a framework of nonlinear elastic stress-strain response, and yields second- and third-order elastic stiffnesses of 340 newtons per meter (N m(-1)) and -690 Nm(-1), respectively. The breaking strength is 42 N m(-1) and represents the intrinsic strength of a defect-free sheet. These quantities correspond to a Young's modulus of E = 1.0 terapascals, third-order elastic stiffness of D = -2.0 terapascals, and intrinsic strength of sigma(int) = 130 gigapascals for bulk graphite. These experiments establish graphene as the strongest material ever measured, and show that atomically perfect nanoscale materials can be mechanically tested to deformations well beyond the linear regime.
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TL;DR: The transition metal carbide nanocrystalline M3C-GNRs catalyst exhibits superior enhanced electrocatalystic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), including low Tafel slope, positive onset potential, high electron transfer number, and long-term stability.
Abstract: Transition metal carbide nanocrystalline M3C (M: Fe, Co, Ni) encapsulated in graphitic shells supported with vertically aligned graphene nanoribbons (VA-GNRs) are synthesized through a hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HF-CVD) method. The process is based on the direct reaction between iron group metals (Fe, Co, Ni) and carbon source, which are facilely get high purity carbide nanocrystals (NCs) and avoid any other impurity at relatively low temperature. The M3C-GNRs exhibit superior enhanced electrocatalystic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), including low Tafel slope (39, 41, and 45 mV dec–1 for Fe3C-GNRs, Co3C-GNRs, and Ni3C-GNRs, respectively), positive onset potential (∼0.8 V), high electron transfer number (∼4), and long-term stability (no obvious drop after 20 000 s test). The M3C-GNRs catalyst also exhibits remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with a large cathodic current density of 166.6, 79.6, and 116.4 mA cm–2 at an overpotential of 200 mV, low onset overpote...
431 citations
TL;DR: The recent advancements in transferring graphene to arbitrary substrates will be extensively reviewed, categorized into mechanical exfoliation, polymer-assisted transfer, continuous transfer by roll-to-roll process, and transfer-free techniques including direct synthesis on insulating substrates.
Abstract: The first micrometer-sized graphene flakes extracted from graphite demonstrated outstanding electrical, mechanical and chemical properties, but they were too small for practical applications. However, the recent advances in graphene synthesis and transfer techniques have enabled various macroscopic applications such as transparent electrodes for touch screens and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and thin-film transistors for flexible electronics in particular. With such exciting potential, a great deal of effort has been put towards producing larger size graphene in the hopes of industrializing graphene production. Little less than a decade after the first discovery, graphene now can be synthesized up to 30 inches in its diagonal size using chemical vapour deposition methods. In making this possible, it was not only the advances in the synthesis techniques but also the transfer methods that deliver graphene onto target substrates without significant mechanical damage. In this article, the recent advancements in transferring graphene to arbitrary substrates will be extensively reviewed. The methods are categorized into mechanical exfoliation, polymer-assisted transfer, continuous transfer by roll-to-roll process, and transfer-free techniques including direct synthesis on insulating substrates.
430 citations
TL;DR: A new reducing agent system is reported: hydriodic acid with trifluoroacetic acid, which can chemically convert graphene oxide into reduced graphene oxide at temperatures below 0 °C in solution, which is the first achievement to produce reduced grapheneoxide at subzero temperature with a mass production.
426 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a cantilever-beam arrangement was used to examine the structural properties of graphene flakes under both tension and compression using two sets of samples, one consisting of flakes just supported on a plastic bar and the other consisting of flake embedded within the substrate.
Abstract: Themechanical behaviorof grapheneflakesunderboth tension and compression is examined using a cantilever-beam arrangement. Twodifferent sets of samples are employed.One consists of flakes just supported on a plastic bar. The other consists of flakesembeddedwithin theplastic substrate.Bymonitoring the shift of the 2DRaman linewith strain, information on the stress transfer efficiency as a function of stress sign and monolayer support are obtained. In tension, the embedded flake seems to sustain strains up to 1.3%, whereas in compression there is an indication of flake buckling at about 0.7% strain. The retainment of such a high critical buckling strain confirms the relative high flexural rigidity of the embedded monolayer. The mechanical strength and stiffness of crystalline materials are normally governed by the strength and stiffness
425 citations
TL;DR: These advances highlight how the strain or strain-coupled applications of 2D materials rely on the interfacial properties, essentially shear and adhesion, and finally offer direct guidelines for deterministic design of mechanical strains into 2D material for ultrathin semiconductor applications.
Abstract: Triggered by the growing needs of developing semiconductor devices at ever-decreasing scales, strain engineering of 2D materials has recently seen a surge of interest. The goal of this principle is to exploit mechanical strain to tune the electronic and photonic performance of 2D materials and to ultimately achieve high-performance 2D-material-based devices. Although strain engineering has been well studied for traditional semiconductor materials and is now routinely used in their manufacturing, recent experiments on strain engineering of 2D materials have shown new opportunities for fundamental physics and exciting applications, along with new challenges, due to the atomic nature of 2D materials. Here, recent advances in the application of mechanical strain into 2D materials are reviewed. These developments are categorized by the deformation modes of the 2D material-substrate system: in-plane mode and out-of-plane mode. Recent state-of-the-art characterization of the interface mechanics for these 2D material-substrate systems is also summarized. These advances highlight how the strain or strain-coupled applications of 2D materials rely on the interfacial properties, essentially shear and adhesion, and finally offer direct guidelines for deterministic design of mechanical strains into 2D materials for ultrathin semiconductor applications.
424 citations
References
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TL;DR: This work shows that graphene's electronic structure is captured in its Raman spectrum that clearly evolves with the number of layers, and allows unambiguous, high-throughput, nondestructive identification of graphene layers, which is critically lacking in this emerging research area.
Abstract: Graphene is the two-dimensional building block for carbon allotropes of every other dimensionality We show that its electronic structure is captured in its Raman spectrum that clearly evolves with the number of layers The D peak second order changes in shape, width, and position for an increasing number of layers, reflecting the change in the electron bands via a double resonant Raman process The G peak slightly down-shifts This allows unambiguous, high-throughput, nondestructive identification of graphene layers, which is critically lacking in this emerging research area
13,474 citations
TL;DR: By using micromechanical cleavage, a variety of 2D crystals including single layers of boron nitride, graphite, several dichalcogenides, and complex oxides are prepared and studied.
Abstract: We report free-standing atomic crystals that are strictly 2D and can be viewed as individual atomic planes pulled out of bulk crystals or as unrolled single-wall nanotubes. By using micromechanical cleavage, we have prepared and studied a variety of 2D crystals including single layers of boron nitride, graphite, several dichalcogenides, and complex oxides. These atomically thin sheets (essentially gigantic 2D molecules unprotected from the immediate environment) are stable under ambient conditions, exhibit high crystal quality, and are continuous on a macroscopic scale.
10,586 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of surface scratches on the mechanical strength of solids, and some general conclusions were reached which appear to have a direct bearing on the problem of rupture, from an engineering standpoint, and also on the larger question of the nature of intermolecular cohesion.
Abstract: In the course of an investigation of the effect of surface scratches on the mechanical strength of solids, some general conclusions were reached which appear to have a direct bearing on the problem of rupture, from an engineering standpoint, and also on the larger question of the nature of intermolecular cohesion. The original object of the work, which was carried out at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, was the discovery of the effect of surface treatment—such as, for instance, filing, grinding or polishing—on the strength of metallic machine parts subjected to alternating or repeated loads. In the case of steel, and some other metals in common use, the results of fatigue tests indicated that the range of alternating stress which could be permanently sustained by the material was smaller than the range within which it was sensibly elastic, after being subjected to a great number of reversals. Hence it was inferred that the safe range of loading of a part, having a scratched or grooved surface of a given type, should be capable of estimation with the help of one of the two hypotheses of rupture commonly used for solids which are elastic to fracture. According to these hypotheses rupture may be expected if (a) the maximum tensile stress, ( b ) the maximum extension, exceeds a certain critical value. Moreover, as the behaviour of the materials under consideration, within the safe range of alternating stress, shows very little departure from Hooke’s law, it was thought that the necessary stress and strain calculations could be performed by means of the mathematical theory of elasticity.
10,162 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: In this paper, the physical properties of crystals systematically in tensor notation are presented, presenting tensor properties in terms of their common mathematical basis and the thermodynamic relations between them.
Abstract: First published in 1957, this classic study has been reissued in a paperback version that includes an additional chapter bringing the material up to date. The author formulates the physical properties of crystals systematically in tensor notation, presenting tensor properties in terms of their common mathematical basis and the thermodynamic relations between them. The mathematical groundwork is laid in a discussion of tensors of the first and second ranks. Tensors of higher ranks and matrix methods are then introduced as natural developments of the theory. A similar pattern is followed in discussing thermodynamic and optical aspects.
8,520 citations
TL;DR: The tensile strengths of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were measured with a "nanostressing stage" located within a scanning electron microscope and a variety of structures were revealed, such as a nanotube ribbon, a wave pattern, and partial radial collapse.
Abstract: The tensile strengths of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were measured with a “nanostressing stage” located within a scanning electron microscope. The tensile-loading experiment was prepared and observed entirely within the microscope and was recorded on video. The MWCNTs broke in the outermost layer (“sword-in-sheath” failure), and the tensile strength of this layer ranged from 11 to 63 gigapascals for the set of 19 MWCNTs that were loaded. Analysis of the stress-strain curves for individual MWCNTs indicated that the Young's modulus E of the outermost layer varied from 270 to 950 gigapascals. Transmission electron microscopic examination of the broken nanotube fragments revealed a variety of structures, such as a nanotube ribbon, a wave pattern, and partial radial collapse.
5,011 citations