Temperature dependent graphene suspension due to thermal Casimir interaction

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to observe temperature-dependent thermal Casimir effects using a graphene flake suspended in a fluid at room temperature, where material choices induce Casimir repulsion and enable stable equilibrium.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup with graphene and specific materials to detect thermal Casimir forces at room temperature, overcoming previous measurement challenges.

Findings

Thermal Casimir effects can be observed at room temperature with proper material selection.

A stable equilibrium separation is achievable due to Casimir repulsion balancing gravity and buoyancy.

The system provides a promising platform for studying thermal quantum effects in fluids.

Abstract

Thermal effects contributing to the Casimir interaction between objects are usually small at room temperature and they are difficult to separate from quantum mechanical contributions at higher temperatures. We propose that the thermal Casimir force effect can be observed for a graphene flake suspended in a fluid between substrates at the room temperature regime. The properly chosen materials for the substrates and fluid induce a Casimir repulsion. The balance with the other forces, such as gravity and buoyancy, results in a stable temperature dependent equilibrium separation. The suspended graphene is a promising system due to its potential for observing thermal Casimir effects at room temperature.