High Pressure in Boron Nitride Nanotubes for Kirigami Nanoribbon Elaboration

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 125; no. 21; pp. 11440 - 11453
• Main Authors: Silva-Santos, Silvio D, Impellizzeri, Anthony, Aguiar, Acrisio L, Journet, Catherine, Dalverny, Charline, Toury, Bérangère, De Sousa, José M, Ewels, Chris P, San-Miguel, Alfonso
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 03-06-2021
• Subjects: C: Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Nano, Hybrid, and Low-Dimensional Materials; Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry; Electronic Microscopy; Electronic Tomography; High Pressure Raman Spectroscopy; Phase Transitions (Kirigami); Nanomechanics; Boron Nitride Nanotubes
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c01374

Cutting and folding 2D systems is one of the explored paths to tune physical and chemical properties in one-atom-thick matter. Contrary to graphene, boron nitride (BN) nanoribbons are difficult to obtain, and folded BN nanoribbon structures have not been reported yet. Here, we show that pressure application in multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes leads to different types of tube internal organizations including BN nanoribbon formation and folds. The new structures are associated with the breaking of a number of the internal tubes, leading to either nonorganized structures in the form of internal tube alveoli or an organized stacking of folded h-BN nanoribbons. Irreversible changes in the morphology of multiwalled BN nanotubes (MWBNNTs) take place from ∼7 GPa, and morphologically modified tubes could be observed up to pressures of at least 49 GPa. The experimental probes utilized included high-resolution transmission microscopy, electron tomography, and Raman spectroscopy. Atomistic modeling shows the formation of pinch structures along the tubes that favor pressure-induced bond-breaking and hybridization changes and confirm the folded structure. Both experiments and modeling show that tube polygonization is a prominent characteristic of MWBNNTs even at ambient pressure. Overall, the pressure evolution of MWBNNTs strongly differs from their carbon analogues. The high mechanical stability of BN tube geometry is of interest for composite-based structural materials. On the other side, the availability of h-BN nanoribbons and folded structures opens new prospects to produce physically modified BN properties.