Layer dependent mechanical responses of graphene composites to near-infrared light

The authors report layer dependent physical responses of graphene-based polymer composites to near-infrared (NIR) light. Thin film polymer composites were fabricated and compared utilizing both single layer graphene and few layer graphene (similar to 5 layers). NIR-induced axial stress and kinetics were measured and found to exhibit three distinct pre-strain dependent response states. Composite stress responses, elastic moduli, and efficiencies were observed to depend on the number of graphene layers in the two-dimensional crystal. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3685479]