https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2019-11873-0
Regular Article
Branching of interfacial cracks of carbon nanotube layers at the air-water interface⋆
1
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Surface Engineering and Remanufacturing, Xi’an University, 710065, Xi’an, China
2
Functional Soft Matter & Materials Group, Key Laboratory of Material Physics and Chemistry under Extraordinary Conditions, School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710129, Xi’an, China
* e-mail: zhangyongjian@mail.nwpu.edu.cn
** e-mail: dyzang@nwpu.edu.cn
Received:
20
May
2019
Accepted:
18
July
2019
Published online:
15
August
2019
We study the surfactant-induced fracture of carbon nanotube layers at the air-water interface. The interfacial cracks exhibit branched morphologies. The propagation velocity V of the cracks follows a power law as , which is independent of the surface coverage of the layers as well as the surfactant concentration. However, the crack morphology changes from lightning-like to flower-like with the increasing of SDS concentration. A higher surfactant concentration does not accelerate the crack propagation velocity, whereas it significantly enhances the crack areas due to the stronger interfacial compression effect. Our results may shed light on the understanding of branching dynamics of interfacial cracks for 2-dimensional viscoelastic systems.
Key words: Topical issue: Branching Dynamics at the Mesoscopic Scale
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature, 2019