Resistance of Boron Nitride Nanotubes to Radiation-Induced Oxidation
We present unprecedented results on the damage thresholds and pathways for boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) under the influence of energetic electrons in an oxidative gas environment, using an environmental aberration-corrected electron microscope over a range of oxygen pressures. We observe a damage cascade process that resists damage until a higher electron dose, compared with carbon nanotubes, initiating at defect-free BNNT sidewalls and proceeding through the conversion from crystalline nanotubes to amorphous boron nitride (BN), resisting oxidation throughout. We compare with prior results on the oxidation of carbon nanotubes and present a model that attributes the onset of damage in both cases to a physisorbed oxygen layer that reduces the threshold for damage onset. Surprisingly, increased temperatures offer protection against damage, as do electron dose rates that significantly exceed the oxygen dose rates, and our model attributes both effects to a physisorbed oxygen population.
Authors
- Alex T. Hall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7082-0755)
- Hsin‐Yun Chao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4490-5894)
- John Cumings (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5476-452X)
- Yifei Mo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-4629)
- Adelaide M. Nolan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5309-5643)
- Wei‐Chang Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7481-7916)
- Dmitri Golberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2298-6539)
- Renu Sharma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7521-8790)
- Cheol Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8022-5108)
Institutions
- Langley Research Center (US)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- MSSCORPS (Taiwan) (TW)
- National Institute of Standards (EG)
- Nanotherapeutics (United States) (US)
- Material Sciences (United States) (US)
- Materials Processing (United States) (US)
- Department of Chemistry and Material Sciences (RU)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
- Published
- 2024-10-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c03814
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Graphene research and applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.59
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of Maryland
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Office of Science
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Physical Measurement Laboratory