On the Mechanical Behavior of Boron Nitride Nanotubes

Boron nitride (BN) nanotubes have structural and mechanical properties similar to carbon nanotubes and are known to be the strongest insulators. Great interest has been focused on understanding the mechanical properties of BN nanotubes as a function of their structural and physical properties. Yet, the published data have not been reviewed and systematically compared. In this paper, we critically review the mechanical properties of BN nanotubes from both experimental and simulation perspectives. The experimental reports include thermal vibrations, electric induced resonance method, and in situ force measurements inside transmission electron microscopy. The modeling and simulation efforts encompass tight bonding methods and molecular dynamics. Replacing the covalent sp(2) bond (C-C) by ionic bond (B-N) results in differences in the mechanical properties of BN nanotubes in comparison to carbon nanotubes. The experimental and computational simulations indicate that BN nanotubes are highly flexible. High necking angles in BN nanotubes are assumed to be correlated with unfavorable bonding in B-B and N-N atoms. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4001117]