Graphene-based nanoresonator with applications in optical transistor and mass sensing

Significant Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Suspended Graphene Film by Stacking Multilayer CVD Graphene Films

Suspended graphene film is of great significance for building high-performance electrical devices. However, fabricating large-area suspended graphene film with good mechanical properties is still a challenge, especially for the chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene films. In this work, the mechanical properties of suspended CVD-grown graphene film are investigated systematically for the first time. It is found that monolayer graphene film is hard to maintain on circular holes with a diameter of tens of micrometers, which can be improved greatly by increasing the layer of graphene films. The mechanical properties of CVD-grown multilayer graphene films suspended on a circular hole with a diameter of 70 µm can be increased by 20%, and multilayer graphene films prepared by layer-layer stacking process can be increased by up to 400% for the same size. The corresponding mechanism was also discussed in detail, which might pave the way for building high-performance electrical devices based on high-strength suspended graphene film.

Review on Carbon Nanomaterials-Based Nano-Mass and Nano-Force Sensors by Theoretical Analysis of Vibration Behavior

Carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene sheets (GSs), and carbyne, are an important new class of technological materials, and have been proposed as nano-mechanical sensors because of their extremely superior mechanical, thermal, and electrical performance. The present work reviews the recent studies of carbon nanomaterials-based nano-force and nano-mass sensors using mechanical analysis of vibration behavior. The mechanism of the two kinds of frequency-based nano sensors is firstly introduced with mathematical models and expressions. Afterward, the modeling perspective of carbon nanomaterials using continuum mechanical approaches as well as the determination of their material properties matching with their continuum models are concluded. Moreover, we summarize the representative works of CNTs/GSs/carbyne-based nano-mass and nano-force sensors and overview the technology for future challenges. It is hoped that the present review can provide an insight into the application of carbon nanomaterials-based nano-mechanical sensors. Showing remarkable results, carbon nanomaterials-based nano-mass and nano-force sensors perform with a much higher sensitivity than using other traditional materials as resonators, such as silicon and ZnO. Thus, more intensive investigations of carbon nanomaterials-based nano sensors are preferred and expected.

Evolving Strategies for Producing Multiscale Graphene-Enhanced Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites for Smart Structural Applications

Graphene has become an important research focus in many current fields of science including composite manufacturing. Developmental work in the field of graphene-enhanced composites has revealed several functional and structural characteristics that promise great benefits for their use in a broad range of applications. There has been much interest in the production of multiscale high-performance, lightweight, yet robust, multifunctional graphene-enhanced fiber-reinforced polymer (gFRP) composites. Although there are many reports that document performance enhancement in materials through the inclusion of graphene nanomaterials into a matrix, or its integration onto the reinforcing fiber component, only a few graphene-based products have actually made the transition to the marketplace. The primary focus of this work concerns the structural gFRPs and discussion on the corresponding manufacturing methodologies for the effective incorporation of graphene into these systems. Another important aspect of this work is to present recent results and highlight the excellent functional and structural properties of the resulting gFRP materials with a view to their future applications. Development of clear standards for the assessment of graphene material properties, improvement of existing materials and scalable manufacturing technologies, and specific regulations concerning human health and environmental safety are key factors to accelerate the successful commercialization of gFRPs.

Modeling and Analysis of a Novel Ultrasensitive Differential Resonant Graphene Micro-Accelerometer with Wide Measurement Range

A novel, ultrahigh-sensitivity wide-range resonant micro-accelerometer using two differential double-clamped monolayer graphene beams is designed and investigated by steady-state simulation via COMSOL Multiphysics software in this paper. Along with stiffness-enhanced optimized folded support beams, two symmetrical 3-GPa prestressed graphene nano-beams serve as resonant sensitive elements with a size of 10 μm × 1 μm (length × width) to increase the acceleration sensitivity while extending the measurement range. The simulation results show that the accelerometer with cascade-connected graphene and proof-mass assembly exhibits the ultrahigh sensitivity of 21,224 Hz/g and quality factor of 9773 in the range of 0⁻1000 g. This is remarkably superior to previously reported studies characterized by attaching proof mass to the graphene components directly. The proposed accelerometer shows great potential as an alternative to quartz and silicon-based resonant sensors in high-impact and highly sensitive inertial measurement applications.

Unconventional two-dimensional vibrations of a decorated carbon nanotube under electric field: linking actuation to advanced sensing ability

We show that a carbon nanotube decorated with different types of charged metallic nanoparticles exhibits unusual two-dimensional vibrations when actuated by applied electric field. Such vibrations and diverse possible trajectories are not only fundamentally important but also have minimum two characteristic frequencies that can be directly linked back to the properties of the constituents in the considered nanoresonator. Namely, those frequencies and the maximal deflection during vibrations are very distinctively dependent on the geometry of the nanotube, the shape, element, mass and charge of the nanoparticle, and are vastly tunable by the applied electric field, revealing the unique sensing ability of devices made of molecular filaments and metallic nanoparticles.