A Novel Macroscopic Technique to Measure the Nanomechanics of Durable Multifunctional Nanosheets

Abstract

In the recent advancement of nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown promise and potential for a wide variety of applications due to their excellent mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. A network of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is of interest due to its potential applications in flexible electronics, composites, constructional materials, and so on. Characterizing the mechanical properties of these thin films will be critical to achieving a full understanding of their behavior, yet relatively few experimental methods exist for querying the deformation mechanics of these films. To provide additional insight into the large-deformation mechanics of these films, we propose a novel method for evaluating the mechanical properties of thin SWCNT films. We provide theoretical background, describe the experimental approach, and use a MATLAB based analysis to extract the film modulus. Finally, we compare our results to existing wrinkling-based measurements, where we find reasonable agreement between the two techniques.