Two-Dimensional Mechanics of Atomically Thin Solids on Water.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36047815.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c02499 and PMC identifier 9479134.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Movement of a three-dimensional solid at an air-water interface is strongly influenced by the extrinsic interactions between the solid and the water. The finite thickness and volume of a moving solid causes capillary interactions and water-induced drag. In this Letter, we report the fabrication and dynamical imaging of freely floating MoS<sub>2</sub> solids on water, which minimizes such extrinsic effects. For this, we delaminate a synthesized wafer-scale monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub> onto a water surface, which shows negligible height difference across water and MoS<sub>2.</sub> Subsequently patterning by a laser generates arbitrarily shaped MoS<sub>2</sub> with negligible in-plane strain. We introduce photoswitchable surfactants to exert a lateral force to floating MoS<sub>2</sub> with a spatiotemporal control. Using this platform, we demonstrate a variety of two-dimensional mechanical systems that show reversible shape changes. Our experiment provides a versatile approach for designing and controlling a large array of atomically thin solids on water for intrinsically two-dimensional dynamics and mechanics.