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Mechanical properties of atomically thin boron nitride and the role of interlayer interactions

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  • Aleksey Falin

    (Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus)

  • Qiran Cai

    (Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus)

  • Elton J.G. Santos

    (School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast
    School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast)

  • Declan Scullion

    (School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast)

  • Dong Qian

    (The University of Texas at Dallas)

  • Rui Zhang

    (The University of Texas at Dallas
    School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University)

  • Zhi Yang

    (Nanomaterials and Chemistry Key Laboratory, Wenzhou University)

  • Shaoming Huang

    (Nanomaterials and Chemistry Key Laboratory, Wenzhou University)

  • Kenji Watanabe

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Matthew R. Barnett

    (Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus)

  • Ying Chen

    (Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus)

  • Rodney S. Ruoff

    (Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials, Institute for Basic Science (IBS)
    Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
    School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST))

  • Lu Hua Li

    (Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus)

Abstract

Atomically thin boron nitride (BN) nanosheets are important two-dimensional nanomaterials with many unique properties distinct from those of graphene, but investigation into their mechanical properties remains incomplete. Here we report that high-quality single-crystalline mono- and few-layer BN nanosheets are one of the strongest electrically insulating materials. More intriguingly, few-layer BN shows mechanical behaviours quite different from those of few-layer graphene under indentation. In striking contrast to graphene, whose strength decreases by more than 30% when the number of layers increases from 1 to 8, the mechanical strength of BN nanosheets is not sensitive to increasing thickness. We attribute this difference to the distinct interlayer interactions and hence sliding tendencies in these two materials under indentation. The significantly better interlayer integrity of BN nanosheets makes them a more attractive candidate than graphene for several applications, for example, as mechanical reinforcements.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksey Falin & Qiran Cai & Elton J.G. Santos & Declan Scullion & Dong Qian & Rui Zhang & Zhi Yang & Shaoming Huang & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Matthew R. Barnett & Ying Chen & Rodney S. Ru, 2017. "Mechanical properties of atomically thin boron nitride and the role of interlayer interactions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15815
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15815
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    Cited by:

    1. Lingbin Xie & Longlu Wang & Xia Liu & Jianmei Chen & Xixing Wen & Weiwei Zhao & Shujuan Liu & Qiang Zhao, 2024. "Flexible tungsten disulfide superstructure engineering for efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution in anion exchange membrane water electrolysers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Alexey Falin & Haifeng Lv & Eli Janzen & James H. Edgar & Rui Zhang & Dong Qian & Hwo-Shuenn Sheu & Qiran Cai & Wei Gan & Xiaojun Wu & Elton J. G. Santos & Lu Hua Li, 2023. "Anomalous isotope effect on mechanical properties of single atomic layer Boron Nitride," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Zhuyuan Wang & Xue Yan & Qinfu Hou & Yue Liu & Xiangkang Zeng & Yuan Kang & Wang Zhao & Xuefeng Li & Shi Yuan & Ruosang Qiu & Md Hemayet Uddin & Ruoxin Wang & Yun Xia & Meipeng Jian & Yan Kang & Li Ga, 2023. "Scalable high yield exfoliation for monolayer nanosheets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Hari Krishna Neupane & Bipin Bhattarai & Narayan Prasad Adhikari, 2022. "Tuning transport properties of B and C sites vacancy defects Graphene/h-BN heterostructures: first-principles study," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 95(10), pages 1-10, October.
    5. Kuichang Zuo & Xiang Zhang & Xiaochuan Huang & Eliezer F. Oliveira & Hua Guo & Tianshu Zhai & Weipeng Wang & Pedro J. J. Alvarez & Menachem Elimelech & Pulickel M. Ajayan & Jun Lou & Qilin Li, 2022. "Ultrahigh resistance of hexagonal boron nitride to mineral scale formation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Kit-Ying Chan & Xi Shen & Jie Yang & Keng-Te Lin & Harun Venkatesan & Eunyoung Kim & Heng Zhang & Jeng-Hun Lee & Jinhong Yu & Jinglei Yang & Jang-Kyo Kim, 2022. "Scalable anisotropic cooling aerogels by additive freeze-casting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Yufei Sun & Yujia Wang & Enze Wang & Bolun Wang & Hengyi Zhao & Yongpan Zeng & Qinghua Zhang & Yonghuang Wu & Lin Gu & Xiaoyan Li & Kai Liu, 2022. "Determining the interlayer shearing in twisted bilayer MoS2 by nanoindentation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.

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