Fracture of polycrystalline graphene membranes by <i>in situ</i> nanoindentation in a scanning electron microscope

Suk, Ji Won; Mancevski, Vladimir; Hao, Yufeng; Liechti, Kenneth M.; Ruoff, Rodney S.

doi:10.1002/pssr.201510244

Cited by 30 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…We note that even though our simulations are for nanocrystalline grains, we expect our results to be valid for much larger micrometer-sized grains, since no new physics is expected to emerge at the intermediate length scales. Our results are consistent with the observations that presence of GB reduces the strength of polycrystalline graphene 20 21 . Finally, we note that our simulations consider only the equilibrium geometrically necessary dislocations, and ignore the non-equilibrium defects such as disclinations 57 58 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In most materials, these properties tend to be mutually exclusive 18 . There are conflicting experimental reports whether the strength of polycrystalline graphene is actually a function of grain size 19 20 21 making the role of simulation and theory more critical. Understanding these statistical fluctuations has become important in light of the fact that graphene synthesized with chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is polycrystalline, and this method is being used to manufacture more than 300,000 m 2 of graphene annually 22 23 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Toughness and strength of nanocrystalline graphene

2016

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Pristine monocrystalline graphene is claimed to be the strongest material known with remarkable mechanical and electrical properties. However, graphene made with scalable fabrication techniques is polycrystalline and contains inherent nanoscale line and point defects—grain boundaries and grain-boundary triple junctions—that lead to significant statistical fluctuations in toughness and strength. These fluctuations become particularly pronounced for nanocrystalline graphene where the density of defects is high. Here we use large-scale simulation and continuum modelling to show that the statistical variation in toughness and strength can be understood with ‘weakest-link' statistics. We develop the first statistical theory of toughness in polycrystalline graphene, and elucidate the nanoscale origins of the grain-size dependence of its strength and toughness. Our results should lead to more reliable graphene device design, and provide a framework to interpret experimental results in a broad class of two-dimensional materials.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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confidence: 99%

Toughness and strength of nanocrystalline graphene

2016

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“…These values for exfoliated graphene are smaller than the Young's modulus of 1 TPa and maximum stress of 130 GPa obtained from AFM indentation experiments and other authors (Lee et al 2008). This result is consistent with previous reports that fractured graphene exhibits diminished mechanical properties (Suk et al 2015). We are conducting further research into the S-S curve interpretation of few-layer exfoliated graphene, as well as into the possibility of achieving wrinkle-free exfoliated graphene on the PTP device or enabling the transfer of exfoliated graphene in a monolayer or bilayer.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Dedicated preparation for in situ transmission electron microscope tensile testing of exfoliated graphene

et al. 2019

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Graphene, which is one of the most promising materials for its state-of-the-art applications, has received extensive attention because of its superior mechanical properties. However, there is little experimental evidence related to the mechanical properties of graphene at the atomic level because of the challenges associated with transferring atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) materials onto microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. In this study, we show successful dry transfer with a gel material of a stable, clean, and free-standing exfoliated graphene film onto a push-to-pull (PTP) device, which is a MEMS device used for uniaxial tensile testing in in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Through the results of optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and TEM, we demonstrate high quality exfoliated graphene on the PTP device. Finally, the stress-strain results corresponding to propagating cracks in folded graphene were simultaneously obtained during the tensile tests in TEM. The zigzag and armchair edges of graphene confirmed that the fracture occurred in association with the hexagonal lattice structure of graphene while the tensile testing. In the wake of the results, we envision the dedicated preparation and in situ TEM tensile experiments advance the understanding of the relationship between the mechanical properties and structural characteristics of 2D materials.

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“…The fracture strengths in the study by Kotakoski and Meyer [90] and the paper of Yang et al [94], however, showed no significant dependence on grain size. Nanoindentation measurements by Suk et al [111] give support to a decreased fracture strength of polycrystalline graphene, with the fracture strength being smaller for smaller grains. For the comparison between theory and experiment, it is again worth pointing out that most numerical studies havẽ …”

Section: Fracture Strengthmentioning

confidence: 98%

Scaling properties of polycrystalline graphene: a review

et al. 2016

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We present an overview of the electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of polycrystalline graphene. Most global properties of this material, such as the charge mobility, thermal conductivity, or Young's modulus, are sensitive to its microstructure, for instance the grain size and the presence of line or point defects. Both the local and global features of polycrystalline graphene have been investigated by a variety of simulations and experimental measurements. In this review, we summarize the properties of polycrystalline graphene, and by establishing a perspective on how the microstructure impacts its large-scale physical properties, we aim to provide guidance for further optimization and improvement of applications based on this material, such as flexible and wearable electronics, and high-frequency or spintronic devices.

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Fracture of polycrystalline graphene membranes by in situ nanoindentation in a scanning electron microscope

Cited by 30 publications

References 26 publications

Toughness and strength of nanocrystalline graphene

Toughness and strength of nanocrystalline graphene

Dedicated preparation for in situ transmission electron microscope tensile testing of exfoliated graphene

Scaling properties of polycrystalline graphene: a review

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