RESEARCH INTEREST
Nanocrystal / Nanomechanics / Particle Assembly / Coalescence

Nanomaterials Show Unexpected Strength Under Stress
In yet another twist on the strangeness of the nanoworld, researchers at the OU and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered that materials such as silica that are quite brittle in bulk form behave as ductile as gold at the nanoscale. Their results may affect the design of future nanomechanics.

 

AFM experiments
Molecular dynamics simulations
  
 
     

NOT like brittle materials
(particle size is about 0.1 mm)
  • Crystal structure behaves like model prediction
  • Amorphous structure behaves like experiments
  • Morphology has a large affect on plastic behavior
  • Ultimate tensile strength is greatly affected by morphology
  
     

 

Crystal Surface Particles
Amorphous Surface Particles