Thickness-dependent bending modulus of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets

Bending modulus of exfoliation-made single-crystalline hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with thicknesses of 25–300 nm and sizes of 1.2–3.0 µm were measured using three-point bending tests in an atomic force microscope. BNNSs suspended on an SiO2 trench were clamped by a metal film via microfabrication based on electron beam lithography. Calculated by the plate theory of a doubly clamped plate under a concentrated load, the bending modulus of BNNSs was found to increase with the decrease of sheet thickness and approach the theoretical C33 value of a hexagonal BN single crystal in thinner sheets (thickness<50 nm). The thickness-dependent bending modulus was suggested to be due to the layer distribution of stacking faults which were also thought to be responsible for the layer-by-layer BNNS exfoliation.

[1]  C. Zhi,et al.  Large‐Scale Fabrication of Boron Nitride Nanosheets and Their Utilization in Polymeric Composites with Improved Thermal and Mechanical Properties , 2009 .

[2]  Jannik C. Meyer,et al.  Selective sputtering and atomic resolution imaging of atomically thin boron nitride membranes. , 2009, Nano letters.

[3]  C. Jin,et al.  Fabrication of a freestanding boron nitride single layer and its defect assignments. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[4]  S. Barth,et al.  The elastic moduli of oriented tin oxide nanowires , 2009, Nanotechnology.

[5]  Thierry Baron,et al.  Size effects in mechanical deformation and fracture of cantilevered silicon nanowires. , 2009, Nano letters.

[6]  Kenji Watanabe,et al.  Structure of chemically derived mono- and few-atomic-layer boron nitride sheets , 2008 .

[7]  John E Sader,et al.  Mechanical properties of ZnO nanowires. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[8]  C. Sow,et al.  Annealing effects on the elastic modulus of tungsten oxide nanowires , 2008 .

[9]  J. Kysar,et al.  Measurement of the Elastic Properties and Intrinsic Strength of Monolayer Graphene , 2008, Science.

[10]  Lin Zhang,et al.  Atomic force microscopy measurement of the Young’s modulus and hardness of single LaB6 nanowires , 2008 .

[11]  Jannik C. Meyer,et al.  The two-dimensional phase of boron nitride: Few-atomic-layer sheets and suspended membranes , 2008 .

[12]  Paul L. McEuen,et al.  Mechanical properties of suspended graphene sheets , 2007 .

[13]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Aspect ratio dependence of the elastic properties of ZnO nanobelts. , 2007, Nano letters.

[14]  Jannik C. Meyer,et al.  The structure of suspended graphene sheets , 2007, Nature.

[15]  P. Eklund,et al.  Force-deflection spectroscopy: a new method to determine the Young's modulus of nanofilaments. , 2006, Nano letters.

[16]  D. E. Aston,et al.  Nanomechanical measurements with AFM in the elastic limit. , 2006, Advances in colloid and interface science.

[17]  Xiaodong Li,et al.  Young’s modulus of ZnO nanobelts measured using atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation techniques , 2006, Nanotechnology.

[18]  J. Boland,et al.  A generalized description of the elastic properties of nanowires. , 2006, Nano letters.

[19]  Y. S. Zhang,et al.  Size dependence of Young's modulus in ZnO nanowires. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[20]  Christophe Ballif,et al.  Measurement of the bending strength of vapor-liquid-solid grown silicon nanowires. , 2006, Nano letters.

[21]  G. Jing,et al.  Study of the bending modulus of individual silicon nitride nanobelts via atomic force microscopy , 2006 .

[22]  Qihua Xiong,et al.  Mechanical properties of ZnS nanobelts. , 2005, Nano letters.

[23]  Elisa Riedo,et al.  Elastic property of vertically aligned nanowires. , 2005, Nano letters.

[24]  K. Novoselov,et al.  Two-dimensional atomic crystals. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[25]  Chwee Teck Lim,et al.  Physical properties of a single polymeric nanofiber , 2004 .

[26]  R. Tenne,et al.  Mechanical behavior of individual WS_2 nanotubes , 2004 .

[27]  W. Auwärter,et al.  Boron Nitride Nanomesh , 2004, Science.

[28]  B. Hillebrands,et al.  Elastic properties of thin h-BN films investigated by Brillouin light scattering , 1999 .

[29]  G. A. D. Briggs,et al.  Elastic and shear moduli of single-walled carbon nanotube ropes , 1999 .

[30]  Charles M. Lieber,et al.  Nanobeam Mechanics: Elasticity, Strength, and Toughness of Nanorods and Nanotubes , 1997 .

[31]  T. Bolland,et al.  Theoretical elastic behavior for hexagonal boron nitride , 1976 .

[32]  P. Hess,et al.  Young’s modulus and density of nanocrystalline cubic boron nitride films determined by dispersion of surface acoustic waves , 2002 .