Hao Li, Félix Carrascoso, Ana Borrás, Gloria P. Moreno, Francisco J. Aparicio, Ángel Barranco, Andrés Castellanos Gómez
Nano Res., Just Accepted Manuscript (Dec, 2023)
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-6402-7
Strain engineering, as a powerful strategy to tune the optical and electrical properties of 2D materials by deforming their crystal lattice, hasattracted significant interest in recent years. 2D materials can sustain ultra-high strains, even up to 10%, due to the lack of danglingbondsontheir surface, making them ideal brittle solids. This remarkable mechanical resilience, together with a strong strain-tunable bandstructure,endows 2D materials with a broad optical and electrical response upon strain. However, strain engineering based on 2Dmaterialsisrestricted by their nanoscale and strain quantification troubles. In this study, we have modified a homebuilt three-points bendingapparatustotransform it into a four-points bending apparatus that allows for the application of both compressive and tensile strains on 2Dmaterials. Thisapproach allows for the efficient and reproducible construction of a strain system and minimizes the buckling effect caused by thevanderWaals interaction by adamantane encapsulation strategy. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of introducing compressive strainon2Dmaterials and the potential for tuning their optical and physical properties through this approach.