Related papers: Thermal fluctuations (eventually) unfold nanoscale…
Multi-scale simulations of nanotube-based nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) controlled by a nonuniform electric field are performed by an example of a gigahertz oscillator. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain the friction…
The smaller the system, typically - the higher is the impact of fluctuations. In narrow superconducting wires sufficiently close to the critical temperature Tc thermal fluctuations are responsible for the experimentally observable finite…
Porous graphene (PG) is a graphene derivative endowed of nanoporous architectures. This material possesses a particular structure with interconnected networks of high pore volume, producing membranes with a large surface area. Experiments…
At room temperature, micron-sized sheets of freestanding graphene are in constant motion even in the presence of an applied bias voltage. We quantify the out-of-plane movement by collecting the displacement current using a nearby small-area…
For centuries, cutting and folding the papers with special patterns have been used to build beautiful, flexible and complex three-dimensional structures. Inspired by the old idea of kirigami (paper cutting), and the outstanding properties…
Liquid nanofilms are ubiquitous in nature and technology, and their equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium dynamics are key to a multitude of phenomena and processes. We numerically study the evolution and rupture of viscous nanometric films,…
We leverage the snap-through response of a bistable origami mechanism to induce a discontinuous evolution of drag with flow speed. The transition between equilibrium states is passively actuated by airflow, and we demonstrate that large…
The properties of slow crack growth in brittle materials are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. We propose a model based on a thermally activated rupture process. Considering a 2D spring network submitted to an external load…
We develop a theory of fluctuation-driven phenomena in thermal transport in graphene double-layers. We work in the regime of electron hydrodynamics and focus on the double charge neutrality point. Although at the neutrality point charge…
Thin elastic sheets bend easily and, if they are patterned with cuts, can deform in sophisticated ways. Here we show that carefully tuning the location and arrangement of cuts within thin sheets enables the design of mechanical actuators…
Nanoscale materials display enhanced strength and toughness but also larger fluctuations and more pronounced size effects with respect to their macroscopic counterparts. Here we study the system size-dependence of the failure strength…
Soft solids with tunable mechanical response are at the core of new material technologies, but a crucial limit for applications is their progressive aging over time, which dramatically affects their functionalities. The generally accepted…
Rigidly and flat-foldable quadrilateral mesh origami is the class of quadrilateral mesh crease patterns with one fundamental property: the patterns can be folded from flat to fully-folded flat by a continuous one-parameter family of…
We study the mechanical fluctuations of a micrometer sized silicon cantilever subjected to a strong heat flow, thus having a highly non-uniform local temperature. In this non-equilibrium steady state, we show that fluctuations are…
Microscale granular sliding within fault gouge is fundamental to earthquake nucleation, yet the mechanism by which temperature affects friction through interfacial water remains poorly understood. Here, large-scale molecular dynamics…
Soft robots employing compliant materials and deformable structures offer great potential for wearable devices that are comfortable and safe for human interaction. However, achieving both structural integrity and compliance for comfort…
The mechanical properties of thermally excited two-dimensional crystalline membranes can depend dramatically on their geometry and topology. A particularly relevant example is the effect on the crumpling transition of holes in the membrane.…
In this paper, we study how to fold a specified origami crease pattern in order to minimize the impact of paper thickness. Specifically, origami designs are often expressed by a mountain-valley pattern (plane graph of creases with relative…
We consider films and filaments of nanoscale thickness on thermally conductive substrates exposed to external heating. Particular focus is on metal films exposed to laser irradiation. Due to short length scales involved, the absorption of…
We investigate the possibility of extending the notion of temperature in a stochastic model for the RNA/protein folding driven out of equilibrium. We simulate the dynamics of a small RNA hairpin subject to an external pulling force, which…