ELECTROMECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL BEHAVIOR OF INTERCALATED GRAPHITE.

The exfoliation of intercalated graphite gives rise to a tensile stress along the c-axis. Although exfoliation is commonly performed by furnace heating, it can also be achieved by the passage of an electric current. To study this electromechanical effect, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) intercalated with bromine was constrained from expansion by the application of a controlled amount of compressive stress along the c-axis while electric power was applied along the c-axis. The observed jump in stress upon increasing the power is attributed to the initiation of bubble formation.