Intrinsic toughening and stable crack propagation in hexagonal boron nitride

Yang, Yingchao; Song, Zhigong; Lu, Guangyuan; Zhang, Qinghua; Zhang, Boyu; Ni, Bo; Wang, Chao; Li, Xiaoyan; Gu, Lin; Xie, Xiaoming; Gao, Huajian

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03488-1

Cited by 135 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Therefore, we speculate that the FLBN thin film serves as a cap layer/reducer of the applied strain, which is manifested in Raman spectral plots measured from SLGr underneath it. These results are compatible with the recently reported work by Yang et al [ 45 ], which implied that the few-layered h-BN of 2 to 6 layers has bending stiffness following the power function of thickness, and can be stronger than MLGr by an order of magnitude; owing to its intrinsic structure, the ionic B-N bonding [ 19 , 48 ] possesses high fracture toughness with stable crack propagation [ 46 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…In recent years, many studies have been devoted to understanding the specific mechanical properties of 2D materials, such as strain, strength, elasticity, and hardness, which are beneficial for specific applications, such as flexible electronic systems, optical sensors, or different types of wearable devices [ 8 , 45 ]. However, in most previously reported works, the mechanical properties of a single material, for example, individual Gr or BN thin films, have been investigated [ 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 28 , 29 , 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In Situ Measurements of Strain Evolution in Graphene/Boron Nitride Heterostructures Using a Non-Destructive Raman Spectroscopy Approach

et al. 2022

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The mechanical properties of engineered van der Waals (vdW) 2D materials and heterostructures are critically important for their implementation into practical applications. Using a non-destructive Raman spectroscopy approach, this study investigates the strain evolution of single-layer graphene (SLGr) and few-layered boron nitride/graphene (FLBN/SLGr) heterostructures. The prepared 2D materials are synthesized via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and then transferred onto flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates for subsequent strain measurements. For this study, a custom-built mechanical device-jig is designed and manufactured in-house to be used as an insert for the 3D piezoelectric stage of the Raman system. In situ investigation of the effects of applied strain in graphene detectable via Raman spectral data in characteristic bonds within SLGr and FLBN/SLGr heterostructures is carried out. The in situ strain evolution of the FLBN/SLGr heterostructures is obtained in the range of (0–0.5%) strain. It is found that, under the same strain, SLG exhibits a higher Raman shift in the 2D band as compared with FLBN/SLGr heterostructures. This research leads to a better understanding of strain dissipation in vertical 2D heterostacks, which could help improve the design and engineering of custom interfaces and, subsequently, control lattice structure and electronic properties. Moreover, this study can provide a new systematic approach for precise in situ strain assessment and measurements of other CVD-grown 2D materials and their heterostructures on a large scale for manufacturing a variety of future micro- and nano-scale devices on flexible substrates.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Situ Measurements of Strain Evolution in Graphene/Boron Nitride Heterostructures Using a Non-Destructive Raman Spectroscopy Approach

et al. 2022

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“…Recently, some researchers have studied the mechanical and heat transport properties of h-BN. For instance, using experimental supported by theoretical analysis, Yang et al 39 reported that the crack growth in h-BN is surprisingly stable. The findings point to further practical benefits and new technical potential for monolayer h-BN, such as mechanical protection for 2D devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical and thermal characterizations of nanoporous two-dimensional boron nitride membranes

Pham

Fang

2022

Sci Rep

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Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising 2D material due to its outstanding mechanical and thermal properties. In the present study, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the influence of porosity and temperature on the mechanical characteristics of h-BN based on uniaxial and biaxial tensions. Meanwhile, the progression of the microstructure of h-BN up to fracture is studied in order to clarify its fractures mechanism during the tension process. Our results reveal that depending on the porosity and tensile direction, the phase transition occurs more or less. The strength, and Young's modulus of h-BN membranes reduce as increasing porosity. Due to the presence of the pores, the most substantial stresses will be centred around the pores site in the tensile test. Then the fracture starts on the pore edge and spreads preferentially along the zigzag direction of h-BN. Furthermore, fracture strain, strength, and Young's modulus decrease when the temperature rises. In addition, the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations are performed to investigate the influence of various porosities and temperatures on the thermal conductivity of h-BN membranes. The results reveal that the thermal conductivity is greatly reduced by nanoporous. The higher the porosity, the lower the thermal conductivity. The vibration density of states of h-BN membranes is calculated; the result suggests that the defects might reduce the phonon mean free path because of the high collision of the phonons. These alterations represent the scattering influence of defects on phonons, which reduces phonon life and considerably lowers thermal conductivity. Moreover, the findings also proved that as temperature increases, the intrinsic thermal conductivity of h-BN decreases. The thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the pristine h-BN thin film are interestingly equivalent in the zigzag and armchair orientations.

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“…An abundance of nanosheets with molecular- or atomic-scale thicknesses have been fabricated 1 over the past few decades possessing a variety of unusual mechanical properties, including the ultra-high modulus of monolayer graphene, 2 super-high lubricity 3 of layered graphene, interfacial slip-dependent bending stiffness for few- and multi-layer graphene, 4,5 negative Passion's ratio 6 for monolayer black phosphorus, and unexpected fracture toughness of hexagonal boron nitride. 7 Despite these unusual mechanical properties, their applications are limited due to two factors: the significant challenge in fabricating them as nanoscale electromechanical devices; and the fact that these properties usually exist only at the nanoscale. By increasing their geometrical scale to the macroscopic level, their corresponding performance will degrade severely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling up ultrathin boat-graphane with the non-classical stiffness relation to macroscopic metamaterials

Chen

et al. 2022

Nanoscale

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Intrinsic toughening and stable crack propagation in hexagonal boron nitride

Cited by 135 publications

References 33 publications

In Situ Measurements of Strain Evolution in Graphene/Boron Nitride Heterostructures Using a Non-Destructive Raman Spectroscopy Approach

In Situ Measurements of Strain Evolution in Graphene/Boron Nitride Heterostructures Using a Non-Destructive Raman Spectroscopy Approach

Mechanical and thermal characterizations of nanoporous two-dimensional boron nitride membranes

Scaling up ultrathin boat-graphane with the non-classical stiffness relation to macroscopic metamaterials

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