Communications of the ACM
Understanding Interface Properties of Graphene Paves Way for New Applications
A new technique to make graphene more stretchable could help in the creation of new technologies that utilize the material.
Credit: Science@Berkeley Lab
Researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the University of Texas have demonstrated a technique to improve the stretchability of graphene, a breakthrough they say should help engineers and designers create new technologies that utilize the material.
"Our research has also demonstrated a useful approach for making graphene-based, stretchable devices by 'buckling' the graphene," says NCSU professor Yong Zhu.
The researchers focused on determining how strong the bond is between the two materials because that tells engineers how much strain can be transferred from the substrate to the graphene, which indicates how far the graphene can be stretched.
"For the substrate used in this study, polyethylene terephthalate, the edges of the graphene monolayer began sliding after being stretched 0.3 percent of its initial length," Zhu says. "But the center continued stretching until the monolayer had been stretched by 1.2 to 1.6 percent."
The researchers also found that the graphene monolayer buckled when the elastic substrate was returned to its original length; this created ridges in the graphene that made it more stretchable because the material could stretch out and back.
From NCSU News
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