In Situ Nanomechanical Measurements of Interfacial Strength in Membrane-Embedded Chemically Functionalized Si Microwires for Flexible Solar Cells
Abstract
Arrays of vertically aligned Si microwires embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have emerged as a promising candidate for use in solar energy conversion devices. Such structures are lightweight and concurrently demonstrate competitive efficiency and mechanical flexibility. To ensure reliable functioning under bending and flexing, strong interfacial adhesion between the nanowire and the matrix is needed. In situ uniaxial tensile tests of individual, chemically functionalized, Si microwires embedded in a compliant PDMS matrix reveal that chemical functionality on Si microwire surfaces is directly correlated with interfacial adhesion strength. Chemical functionalization can therefore serve as an effective methodology for accessing a wide range of interfacial adhesion between the rigid constituents and the soft polymer matrix; the adhesion can be quantified by measuring the mechanical strength of such systems.
Additional Information
© 2012 American Chemical Society. Received: April 14, 2012; Revised: May 9, 2012; Published: May 21, 2012. C.J.C. gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Resnick Institute at Caltech through her graduate fellowship and E. Warren for help with wafer patterning. L.O'L. thanks the financial support of the Link Foundation Energy fellowship. N.S.L.'s portion of this work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF-CHE-0911682) and (NSF-CHE-0802907). J.R.G. is grateful to the Caltech's CI-2 Innovation Grant for supporting this work.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - nl3014007_si_001.pdf
Supplemental Material - nl3014007_si_002.mp4
Supplemental Material - nl3014007_si_003.mp4
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 32012
- DOI
- 10.1021/nl3014007
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20120621-133116661
- Resnick Institute
- Link Foundation Energy fellowship
- NSF
- CHE-0911682
- NSF
- CHE-0802907
- Caltech's CI-2 Innovation Grant
- Created
-
2012-06-28Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2023-03-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Resnick Sustainability Institute, CCI Solar Fuels