Probing the mechanical properties of graphene using a corrugated elastic substrate

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to simultaneously measure the elastic and adhesive properties of graphene by analyzing its deformation on micro-corrugated substrates, advancing understanding of its mechanical behavior for device applications.

Contribution

It develops a combined experimental and theoretical approach to extract multiple mechanical parameters of graphene from deformation measurements on corrugated substrates.

Findings

Measured graphene's bending rigidity and adhesion properties.

Determined critical stress for interlayer sliding.

Analyzed tension variations in graphene samples.

Abstract

The exceptional mechanical properties of graphene have made it attractive for nano-mechanical devices and functional composite materials. Two key aspects of graphene's mechanical behavior are its elastic and adhesive properties. These are generally determined in separate experiments, and it is moreover typically difficult to extract parameters for adhesion. In addition, the mechanical interplay between graphene and other elastic materials has not been well studied. Here, we demonstrate a technique for studying both the elastic and adhesive properties of few-layer graphene (FLG) by placing it on deformable, micro-corrugated substrates. By measuring deformations of the composite graphene-substrate structures, and developing a related linear elasticity theory, we are able to extract information about graphene's bending rigidity, adhesion, critical stress for interlayer sliding, and sample-dependent tension. The results are relevant to graphene-based mechanical and electronic devices, and to the use of graphene in composite, flexible, and strain-engineered materials.