Wrinkle formation during uniaxial compression of a graphene sheet lying on a soft (polymer) substrate

TL;DR

This study models wrinkle formation in graphene sheets on soft substrates under uniaxial compression, revealing how substrate deformability, pressure, and temperature influence wrinkle development and potential methods for their removal.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model accounting for substrate deformability, pressure, and thermal effects on wrinkle formation and removal in graphene/polymer systems.

Findings

High external pressure stabilizes the system.

Wrinkles increase with temperature until melting occurs.

Melting eliminates all wrinkles and folds.

Abstract

Modeling of wrinkles and folds formation in single and multilayer graphene sheets lying on flat deformable (polymer) substrates has been carried out. It is shown that the deformability of the substrate leads to the appearance of significant features. In contrast to the flat surfaces of rigid crystals molecules of soft polymer substrates can penetrate into wrinkles and folds of the graphene sheet, completely filling the voids beneath the sheet. Moreover, the vertical folds of the sheet can be directed not only upward from the substrate, but also down into the substrate, penetrating it. By modeling the uniaxial compression of the two-component graphene/polymer system, the external pressure and thermal vibrations of the substrate molecules have been taken into account. High external pressure $p\ge 150$~bar leads to a noticeable additional stabilization of the initial ground state of the system. At uniaxial compression above the critical value, a system of localized wrinkles whose interior is filled with molecules of the substrate appears in the graphene sheet. Increasing temperature leads to an increase in the size of wrinkles and to a decrease in their number. The largest wrinkles form before the substrate begins to melt. Melting leads to the complete disappearance of all wrinkles and small folds. Cooling of the melted substrate leads to its crystallization, but the system of wrinkles in the graphene sheet on the surface is not restored. Therefore, melting of the polymer substrate and its subsequent cooling can serve as a method getting rid of localized wrinkles and folds of the graphene sheet.