Mechanical behaviors of micro-nano systems associated with van der Waals interaction
van der Waals(vdW)interactions originating from quantum and thermal fluctuations are ubiquitous in natural and artificial systems.Accurate descriptions and characterizations of vdW inter-actions are crucial to understanding the mechanical behavior and realizing the mechanical design of micro-/nano-systems.This review summarized recent research progresses on vdW-dependent mechan-ical behaviors of micro-/nano-systems.First,we introduced vdW theories for atomic and molecular systems,including pairwise approximation,nonlocal density functional theory,adiabatic-connection fluctuating-dissipation theorem and many-body dispersion theory,as well as theories for continuum systems,including analytic,semi-analytic and numerical Lifshitz theory.Then,we reviewed the effects of vdW interactions on typical mechanical behaviors of two-dimensional materials and nano-and mi-cro-electromechanical systems.We also discussed fascinating effects emerged from vdW interaction,in-cluding repulsive vdW force,non-monotonic vdW trap,Casimir rotational torque,Casimir flipping torque and vdW screening.Finally,we analyzed limitations of current vdW theories and presented the outlook for future development.
van der Waals interactionquantum effectmicro-electromechanical systemtwo-dimen-sional materialmechanical behavior