Open AccessOn the mechanical behavior of WS 2 nanotubes under axial tension and compression
Author(s) -
Ifat KaplanAshiri,
Sidney R. Cohen,
K. Gartsman,
V. V. Ivanovskaya,
Thomas Heine,
Gotthard Seifert,
Inna Wiesel,
H. Daniel Wagner,
Reshef Tenne
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.0505640103
Subject(s) - ultimate tensile strength , materials science , composite material , scanning electron microscope , mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes , nanotube , tension (geology) , compressive strength , modulus , fracture (geology) , tensile testing , carbon nanotube , compression (physics)
The mechanical properties of materials and particularly the strength are greatly affected by the presence of defects; therefore, the theoretical strength (≈10% of the Young's modulus) is not generally achievable for macroscopic objects. On the contrary, nanotubes, which are almost defect-free, should achieve the theoretical strength that would be reflected in superior mechanical properties. In this study, both tensile tests and buckling experiments of individual WS2 nanotubes were carried out in a high-resolution scanning electron microscope. Tensile tests of MoS2 nanotubes were simulated by means of a density-functional tight-binding-based molecular dynamics scheme as well. The combination of these studies provides a microscopic picture of the nature of the fracture process, giving insight to the strength and flexibility of the WS2 nanotubes (tensile strength of ≈16 GPa). Fracture analysis with recently proposed models indicates that the strength of such nanotubes is governed by a small number of defects. A fraction of the nanotubes attained the theoretical strength indicating absence of defects.