A Review on Mechanics and Mechanical Properties of 2D Materials - Graphene and Beyond

TL;DR

This review summarizes recent theoretical and experimental advances in understanding the mechanical properties of 2D materials, emphasizing their significance for applications and the need for further research beyond graphene.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of mechanical studies on 2D materials, highlighting recent progress and future directions beyond graphene.

Findings

Mechanical properties are crucial for 2D material applications.

Coupling of mechanics with thermal, electronic, optical properties is significant.

Interface mechanics like adhesion and friction are essential for device integration.

Abstract

Since the first successful synthesis of graphene just over a decade ago, a variety of two-dimensional (2D) materials (e.g., transition metal-dichalcogenides, hexagonal boron-nitride, etc.) have been discovered. Among the many unique and attractive properties of 2D materials, mechanical properties play important roles in manufacturing, integration and performance for their potential applications. Mechanics is indispensable in the study of mechanical properties, both experimentally and theoretically. The coupling between the mechanical and other physical properties (thermal, electronic, optical) is also of great interest in exploring novel applications, where mechanics has to be combined with condensed matter physics to establish a scalable theoretical framework. Moreover, mechanical interactions between 2D materials and various substrate materials are essential for integrated device applications of 2D materials, for which the mechanics of interfaces (adhesion and friction) has to be developed for the 2D materials. Here we review recent theoretical and experimental works related to mechanics and mechanical properties of 2D materials. While graphene is the most studied 2D material to date, we expect continual growth of interest in the mechanics of other 2D materials beyond graphene.