Figure 5: Distributed rupture and formation of nested self-similar mesh.
From: Highly stretchable and transparent nanomesh electrodes made by grain boundary lithography
(a) A sheet of paper is laser-cut using the magnified image of Au nanomesh. The left image shows without any cutting. The middle image shows the stretching of the structure after cutting a few ligaments. The right image shows the stretching of the structure after cutting more ligaments. (b) Au nanomesh/PDMS stretched at strains of 50, 100 and 150%, showing that cracks (filled with purple) are formed and the crack size increases with increasing strain. The double headed arrow indicates tensile direction. Under large strains of 100 and 150%, a larger mesh is formed, for which the cracks act as the holes (purple) while the non-cracked Au networks and wires act as larger ligaments (dark grey). Scale bar, 3 μm. (c) Atomic force microscopy images of unstretched and stretched Au nanomesh supported on PDMS, showing that the latter has a relief height up to 200 nm. (d) Straight nanowires and elongated meshes (exemplified by the mesh in green in the inset) are seen in strained Au nanomesh (at a strain of 150%). Scale bar, 1 μm, and scale bar in the inset is 500 nm.
