<i>In Situ</i> Atomic-Scale Study on the Ultralarge Bending Behaviors of TiO<sub>2</sub>-B/Anatase Dual-Phase Nanowires.

Liu, Qiong; Zhan, Haifei; Zhu, Huaiyong; Liu, Hongwei; Sun, Ziqi; Bell, John; Bo, Arixin; Gu, Yuantong · Nano Lett · 2019

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

It is challenging but important to understand the mechanical properties of one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials for their design and integration into nanodevices. Generally, brittle ceramic nanowires (NWs) cannot withstand a large bending strain. Herein, <i>in situ</i> bending deformation of titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) NWs with a bronze/anatase dual-phase was carried out inside a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system. An ultralarge bending strain up to 20.3% was observed on individual NWs. Through an <i>in situ</i> atomic-scale study, the large bending behavior for a dual-phase TiO<sub>2</sub> NW was found to be related to a continuous crystalline-structure evolution including phase transition, small deformation twinning, and dislocation nucleation and movements. Additionally, no amorphization or crack occurred in the dual-phase TiO<sub>2</sub> NW even under an ultralarge bending strain. These results revealed that an individual ceramic NW can undergo a large bending strain with rich defect activities.