Macroscopic Graphene Membranes and Their Extraordinary Stiffness Export

@article{citeulike:3452703, abstract = {Abstract: The properties of suspended graphene are currently attracting enormous interest, but the small size of available samples and the difficulties in making them severely restrict the number of experimental techniques that can be used to study the optical, mechanical, electronic, thermal, and other characteristics of this one-atom-thick material. Here, we describe a new and highly reliable approach for making graphene membranes of a macroscopic size (currently up to 100 ¼m in diameter) and their characterization by transmission electron microscopy. In particular, we have found that long graphene beams supported by only one side do not scroll or fold, in striking contrast to the current perception of graphene as a supple thin fabric, but demonstrate sufficient stiffness to support extremely large loads, millions of times exceeding their own weight, in agreement with the presented theory. Our work opens many avenues for studying suspended graphene and using it in various micromechanical systems and electron microscopy.}, address = {Department of Physics and Astronomy, Schuster Laboratory, Manchester University, Brunswick Street, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom, Graphene Industries Ltd, 32 Holden Avenue, Manchester M16 8TA, United Kingdom, Center for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, Manchester University, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, Materials Science Center, Manchester University, Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, United Kingdom, SuperSTEM, Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Cheshire WA4 4AD, United Kingdom, and Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands}, author = {Booth, Tim J. and Blake, Peter and Nair, Rahul R. and Jiang, Da and Hill, Ernie W. and Bangert, Ursel and Bleloch, Andrew and Gass, Mhairi and Novoselov, Kostya S. and Katsnelson, M. I. and Geim, A. K.}, citeulike-article-id = {3452703}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl801412y}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl801412y}, day = {13}, doi = {10.1021/nl801412y}, journal = {Nano Lett.}, keywords = {graphene, graphene-fabrication, graphene-substrate, nano-letters}, month = {August}, number = {8}, pages = {2442--2446}, posted-at = {2008-11-18 21:24:51}, priority = {2}, title = {Macroscopic Graphene Membranes and Their Extraordinary Stiffness}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl801412y}, volume = {8}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3452703 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3452703 N2 - Abstract: The properties of suspended graphene are currently attracting enormous interest, but the small size of available samples and the difficulties in making them severely restrict the number of experimental techniques that can be used to study the optical, mechanical, electronic, thermal, and other characteristics of this one-atom-thick material. Here, we describe a new and highly reliable approach for making graphene membranes of a macroscopic size (currently up to 100 ¼m in diameter) and their characterization by transmission electron microscopy. In particular, we have found that long graphene beams supported by only one side do not scroll or fold, in striking contrast to the current perception of graphene as a supple thin fabric, but demonstrate sufficient stiffness to support extremely large loads, millions of times exceeding their own weight, in agreement with the presented theory. Our work opens many avenues for studying suspended graphene and using it in various micromechanical systems and electron microscopy. IS - 8 JF - Nano Lett. AD - Department of Physics and Astronomy, Schuster Laboratory, Manchester University, Brunswick Street, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom, Graphene Industries Ltd, 32 Holden Avenue, Manchester M16 8TA, United Kingdom, Center for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, Manchester University, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, Materials Science Center, Manchester University, Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, United Kingdom, SuperSTEM, Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Cheshire WA4 4AD, United Kingdom, and Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands EP - 2446 TI - Macroscopic Graphene Membranes and Their Extraordinary Stiffness VL - 8 SP - 2442 KW - graphene KW - graphene-fabrication KW - graphene-substrate KW - nano-letters AU - Booth, Tim AU - Blake, Peter AU - Nair, Rahul AU - Jiang, Da AU - Hill, Ernie AU - Bangert, Ursel AU - Bleloch, Andrew AU - Gass, Mhairi AU - Novoselov, Kostya AU - Katsnelson, MI AU - Geim, AK PY - 2008/08/13/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl801412y ER -