title: Ultrahigh torsional stiffness and strength of boron nitride nanotubes.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garel
authors.forename: Itai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leven
authors.forename: Chunyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Nagapriya
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Popovitz-Biro
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Golberg
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Oded
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hod
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Joselevich
mesh_terms: D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D033081:Shear Strength; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D001896:Boron Compounds; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; C017282:boron nitride