title: Mechanical properties of bamboo-like boron nitride nanotubes by in situ TEM and MD simulations: strengthening effect of interlocked joint interfaces.
abstract: Understanding the influence of interfacial structures on the nanoarchitecture mechanical properties is of particular importance for its mechanical applications. Due to a small size of constituting nanostructural units and a consequently high volume ratio of such interfacial regions, this question becomes crucial for the overall mechanical performance. Boron nitride bamboo-like nanotubes, called hereafter boron nitride nanobamboos (BNNBs), are composed of short BN nanotubular segments with specific interfaces at the bamboo-shaped joints. In this work, the mechanical properties of such structures are investigated by using direct in situ transmission electron microscopy tensile tests and molecular dynamics simulations. The mechanical properties and deformation behaviors are correlated with the interfacial structure under atomic resolution, and a geometry strengthening effect is clearly demonstrated. Due to the interlocked joint interfacial structures and compressive interfacial stresses, the deformation mechanism is switched from an interplanar sliding mode to an in-plane tensile elongation mode. As a result of such a specific geometry strengthening effect, the BNNBs show high tensile fracture strength and Young's modulus up to 8.0 and 225 GPa, respectively.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044 Japan.
authors.forename: Dai-Ming
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Cui-Lan
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xianlong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Ming-Sheng
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Golberg