Surface effects on in-plane buckling of nanowires on elastomeric substrates

Abstract

Buckling of nanowires on elastomeric substrates shows enhanced stretchability for these materials, and can foster stretchable form of nanoelectronics and nanosystems. Since surface effects can have strong influence on the mechanical behaviour of nanowires, a theoretical model is established to study the surface effects on in-plane buckling of nanowires on elastomeric substrates. The buckling wavelength, amplitude and critical buckling strain are obtained analytically in terms of surface elasticity, residual surface tension, bending and tension stiffness of the nanowire and the elastic modulus of the substrate. The results show that the buckling wavelength is only dependent on the surface elasticity, while both surface elasticity and residual surface tension can have significant effects on the buckling amplitude and critical buckling strain.