TY - JOUR
T1 - In situ transmission electron microscope tensile testing reveals structure-property relationships in carbon nanofibers
AU - Beese, Allison M.
AU - Papkov, Dimitry
AU - Li, Shuyou
AU - Dzenis, Yuris
AU - Espinosa, Horacio D.
PY - 2013/8/1
Y1 - 2013/8/1
N2 - Tensile tests were performed on carbon nanofibers in situ a transmission electron microscope (TEM) using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) tensile testing device. The carbon nanofibers tested in this study were produced via the electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) into fibers, which are subsequently stabilized in an oxygen environment at 270 C and carbonized in nitrogen at 800 C. To investigate the relationship between the fiber molecular structure, diameter, and mechanical properties, nanofibers with diameters ranging from ∼100 to 300 nm were mounted onto a MEMS device using nanomanipulation inside the chamber of a Scanning Electron Microscope, and subsequently tested in tension in situ a TEM. The results show the dependence of strength and modulus on diameter, with a maximum modulus of 262 GPa and strength of 7.3 GPa measured for a 108 nm diameter fiber. In particular, through TEM evaluation of the structure of each individual nanofiber immediately prior to testing, we elucidate a dependence of mechanical properties on the molecular orientation of the graphitic structure: the strength and stiffness of the fibers increases with a higher degree of orientation of the 0 0 2 graphitic planes along the fiber axis, which coincides with decreasing fiber diameter.
AB - Tensile tests were performed on carbon nanofibers in situ a transmission electron microscope (TEM) using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) tensile testing device. The carbon nanofibers tested in this study were produced via the electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) into fibers, which are subsequently stabilized in an oxygen environment at 270 C and carbonized in nitrogen at 800 C. To investigate the relationship between the fiber molecular structure, diameter, and mechanical properties, nanofibers with diameters ranging from ∼100 to 300 nm were mounted onto a MEMS device using nanomanipulation inside the chamber of a Scanning Electron Microscope, and subsequently tested in tension in situ a TEM. The results show the dependence of strength and modulus on diameter, with a maximum modulus of 262 GPa and strength of 7.3 GPa measured for a 108 nm diameter fiber. In particular, through TEM evaluation of the structure of each individual nanofiber immediately prior to testing, we elucidate a dependence of mechanical properties on the molecular orientation of the graphitic structure: the strength and stiffness of the fibers increases with a higher degree of orientation of the 0 0 2 graphitic planes along the fiber axis, which coincides with decreasing fiber diameter.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.carbon.2013.04.018
DO - 10.1016/j.carbon.2013.04.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84878569108
VL - 60
SP - 246
EP - 253
JO - Carbon
JF - Carbon
SN - 0008-6223
ER -