Abstract
Phosphorene, a two-dimensional material that can be exfoliated from black phosphorus, exhibits remarkable mechanical, thermal, electronic, and optical properties. In this work, we demonstrate that the unique structure of pristine phosphorene endows this material with exceptional quantum-mechanical performance by using first-principles calculations. Upon charge injection, the maximum actuation stress is 7.0 GPa, corresponding to the maximum actuation strain as high as 36.6% that is over seven times larger than that of graphene (4.7%) and comparable with natural muscle (20–40%). Meanwhile, the maximum volumetric work density of phosphorene (207.7 J/cm3) is about three orders of magnitude larger than natural muscle (0.008–0.04 J/cm3) and approximately six times larger than graphene (35.3 J/cm3). The underlying mechanism of this exceptional electromechanical performance in phosphorene is well revealed from the analysis of atomic structure and electronic structure. Finally, the influence of charge on the mechanical behaviors of phosphorene is examined by mechanical tests, indicating the sufficient structural integrity of phosphorene under the combined electromechanical loading. These findings shed light on phosphorene for promising applications in developing nanoelectromechanical actuators.
Highlights
Developing artificial muscles that can mimic the behaviors of mammalian skeletal muscle has attracted much attention but remains a long-term challenge[1,2,3,4,5]
The in-plane strains are measured as the change of a1 and a2 upon charge injection into phosphorene, graphene and silicene along the armchair and zigzag directions, respectively
The electromechanical responses of pristine phosphorene upon charge injection are depicted in Fig. 2, in which the electromechanical responses of graphene and silicene monolayer are calculated for comparison
Summary
Developing artificial muscles that can mimic the behaviors of mammalian skeletal muscle has attracted much attention but remains a long-term challenge[1,2,3,4,5]. Natural muscles boast reversible mechanical responses in a large strain range under various complex loads[6,7,8,9]. The selected materials for artificial muscles must exhibit significant strokes, stress as well as volumetric work densities at quite fast responses[10]. The extensively studied actuation materials include shape memory alloys, electroactive ceramics, and polymers[11]. Shape memory alloys have high work densities, but unpredictable deformation and slow responses[1]. Electroactive ceramics possess fast responses but their strokes are
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