The toughness of multi-wall carbon nanocapsules.
A single multi-wall carbon nanocapsule (NC) was compressed by piezomanipulation inside a transmission electron microscope and then allowed to recover. The atomic structural dynamics were observed in situ with simultaneous measurement of the sub-nanonewton forces acting on the NC. The NC completely bent under a load of 4.6 nN exerted by a gold nanotip and recovered to its original shape when the nanotip was retracted. The observations showed that the NC possesses a high toughness for compression.
Asaka
Koji
K
Special Research Project on Nanoscience, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8571, Japan. asaka@nuqe.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Miyazawa
Kun'ichi
K
Kizuka
Tokushi
T