Soft Skin Layers Enable Area-Specific, Multiscale Graphene Wrinkles with Switchable Orientations

Dongjoon Rhee, Jeffrey T. Paci, Shikai Deng, Won Kyu Lee, George C. Schatz*, Teri W. Odom

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper reports a method to realize crack-free graphene wrinkles with variable spatial wavelengths and switchable orientations. Graphene supported on a thin fluoropolymer and prestrained elastomer substrate can exhibit conformal wrinkling after strain relief. The wrinkle orientation could be switched beyond the intrinsic fracture limit of graphene for hundreds of cycles of stretching and releasing without forming cracks. Mechanical modeling revealed that the fluoropolymer layer mediated the structural evolution of the graphene wrinkles without crack formation or delamination. Patterned fluoropolymer layers with different thicknesses produced wrinkles with controlled wavelengths and orientations while maintaining the mechanical integrity of graphene under high tensile strain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)166-174
Number of pages9
JournalACS nano
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 28 2020

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF CMMI-1462633, CMMI-1848613), the Office of Naval Research (ONR N00014-17-1-2482), and the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship from the Department of Defense (DOD N00014-17-1-3023). Sample fabrication and characterization were conducted in the Northwestern University Micro/Nano Fabrication Facility (NUFAB) and Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE), which have received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205), the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program (NSF DMR-1121262, DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center, the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN), the Keck Foundation, the State of Illinois, and Northwestern University. Simulations were performed on Quest, a high-performance computing cluster at Northwestern University. D.R. thankfully acknowledges scholarship from Jeongsong Cultural Foundation (Republic of Korea) and the IIN. W.-K.L. gratefully appreciates Ryan Fellowship and financial support from the IIN.

Keywords

  • graphene
  • mechanical modeling
  • plastic deformation
  • responsive patterns
  • wrinkles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering
  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • General Materials Science

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