Ultrahigh torsional stiffness and strength of boron nitride nanotubes.

Garel, Jonathan; Leven, Itai; Zhi, Chunyi; Nagapriya, K S; Popovitz-Biro, Ronit; Golberg, Dmitri; Bando, Yoshio; Hod, Oded et al. · Nano Lett · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We report the experimental and theoretical study of boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) torsional mechanics. We show that BNNTs exhibit a much stronger mechanical interlayer coupling than carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This feature makes BNNTs up to 1 order of magnitude stiffer and stronger than CNTs. We attribute this interlayer locking to the faceted nature of BNNTs, arising from the polarity of the B-N bond. This property makes BNNTs superior candidates to replace CNTs in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), fibers, and nanocomposites.

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