Wedge-based mechanical exfoliation

Wedge-based mechanical exfoliation is a method that involves the use of an ultra-sharp single crystal diamond wedge to penetrate inside a material and cleave a thin layer of material. It was proposed to produce few layers of graphene from a bulk highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG).[1]

Molecular dynamics simulations studies have been performed to understand how and under what conditions graphene layers separate, fold and shear during the wedge-based mechanical exfoliation machining technique. Molecular simulations of initial wedge engagement show that the entry location of the wedge tip, vis-a-vis the nearest graphene layer, plays a key role in determining whether layers separate or fold and which layers and how many of them fold.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Jayasena, Buddhika; Subbiah Sathyan (2011). "A novel mechanical cleavage method for synthesizing few-layer graphenes". Nanoscale Research Letters. 6 (95): 95. Bibcode:2011NRL.....6...95J. doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-95. PMC 3212245. PMID 21711598.
  2. ^ Jayasena, B; ReddyC.D, Subbaih S (May 2013). "Separation, folding and shearing of graphene layers during wedge-based mechanical exfoliation". Nanotechnology. 24 (20): 205301. Bibcode:2013Nanot..24t5301J. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/24/20/205301. PMID 23598423. S2CID 23595457.