A Plesiohedral Cellular Network of Graphene Bubbles for Ultralight, Strong, and Superelastic Materials

Seon Ju Yeo, Min Jun Oh, Hyun Min Jun, Minhwan Lee, Jung Gun Bae, Yeseul Kim, Kyung Jin Park, Seungwoo Lee, Daeyeon Lee, Byung Mook Weon, Won Bo Lee, Seok Joon Kwon, Pil J. Yoo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Advanced materials with low density and high strength impose transformative impacts in the construction, aerospace, and automobile industries. These materials can be realized by assembling well-designed modular building units (BUs) into interconnected structures. This study uses a hierarchical design strategy to demonstrate a new class of carbon-based, ultralight, strong, and even superelastic closed-cellular network structures. Here, the BUs are prepared by a multiscale design approach starting from the controlled synthesis of functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets at the molecular- and nanoscale, leading to the microfluidic fabrication of spherical solid-shelled bubbles at the microscale. Then, bubbles are strategically assembled into centimeter-scale 3D structures. Subsequently, these structures are transformed into self-interconnected and structurally reinforced closed-cellular network structures with plesiohedral cellular units through post-treatment, resulting in the generation of 3D graphene lattices with rhombic dodecahedral honeycomb structure at the centimeter-scale. The 3D graphene suprastructure concurrently exhibits the Young's modulus above 300 kPa while retaining a light density of 7.7 mg cm−3 and sustaining the elasticity against up to 87% of the compressive strain benefiting from efficient stress dissipation through the complete space-filling closed-cellular network. The method of fabricating the 3D graphene closed-cellular structure opens a new pathway for designing lightweight, strong, and superelastic materials.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1802997
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume30
Issue number45
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 Nov 8
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Keywords

  • closed-cellular structures
  • graphene
  • lightweight materials
  • microsolid bubbles
  • plesiohedra

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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