In-situ Electrical, Mechanical and Electrochemical Characterizations of One-dimensional Nanostructures

Figure 1.1 (a) schematic of a BN sheet to roll up and build a nanotube. (b) illustrates a single-walled BNNT. (c) low magnification of an individual multi-walled BNNT, indicating the presence of no contamination on the sample. (d) high-resolution bright-field image of a BNNT placed on the carbon coated grid. 20 Figure 2.1 (a) Schematic of synthesis process of BNNTs inside the furnace. (b) SEM Figure 2.2 (a) High resolution TEM image of a multi-walled BNNT. (b) The line intensity along the dashed line in (a) indicates that the distance between walls Figure 3.2 Thermal vibration can be used to estimate the elastic properties of a BN nanotube. Figure 3.3 RMS amplitude of oscillation as a function of position from the base. The solid line shows the best fit. Figure 3.4 Electric Field Induced Resonance method was used to measure the elastic properties of a BN nanotube. TEM images showing (a) A cantilevered BN nanotube with an outer diameter of 43 nm, an inner diameter of 12 nm, and a length of 9.75 mm, (b) the first mode of the BN nanotube, and (c) the second mode of the BN nanotube. The dotted lines in (b) and (c) are the analytical fit to the corresponding deflection contour of the resonances. Figure 3.5 Experimental setup for multi-cycle bending of BN nanotubes performed inside a high-resolution analytical transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). 6 The inset shows a TEM view of the setup. Figure 3.6 The multi-cycle bending experiments on BN nanotubes inside a TEM. distortion of the tubular layers nanotube takes place (a and c), but the straight shape is recovered after reloading (b and d). Figure 3.7 Schematic of the AFM-TEM holder. The inset on the right shows a TEM view of the framed area of an individual multi-walled BN nanotube. The position of the tube against the cantilever can be accurately attuned. Figure 3.8 Force –piezo displacement curves obtained using a AFM-TEM holder. (a) shows the data for a thick BN nanotube; and (b) for thin BN nanotubes.