Nanoporous amorphous carbon nanopillars with lightweight, ultrahigh strength, large fracture strain, and high damping capability

Zhongyuan Li, Ayush Bhardwaj, Jinlong He, Wenxin Zhang, Thomas T. Tran, Ying Li, Andrew McClung, Sravya Nuguri, James J. Watkins () and Seok-Woo Lee ()
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Zhongyuan Li: University of Connecticut
Ayush Bhardwaj: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Jinlong He: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wenxin Zhang: California Institute of Technology
Thomas T. Tran: California Institute of Technology
Ying Li: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Andrew McClung: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Sravya Nuguri: University of Massachusetts Amherst
James J. Watkins: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Seok-Woo Lee: University of Connecticut

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Simultaneous achievement of lightweight, ultrahigh strength, large fracture strain, and high damping capability is challenging because some of these mechanical properties are mutually exclusive. Here, we utilize self-assembled polymeric carbon precursor materials in combination with scalable nano-imprinting lithography to produce nanoporous carbon nanopillars. Remarkably, nanoporosity induced via sacrificial template significantly reduces the mass density of amorphous carbon to 0.66 ~ 0.82 g cm−3 while the yield and fracture strengths of nanoporous carbon nanopillars are higher than those of most engineering materials with the similar mass density. Moreover, these nanopillars display both elastic and plastic behavior with large fracture strain. A reversible part of the sp2-to-sp3 transition produces large elastic strain and a high loss factor (up to 0.033) comparable to Ni-Ti shape memory alloys. The irreversible part of the sp2-to-sp3 transition enables plastic deformation, leading to a large fracture strain of up to 35%. These findings are substantiated using simulation studies. None of the existing structural materials exhibit a comparable combination of mass density, strength, deformability, and damping capability. Hence, the results of this study illustrate the potential of both dense and nanoporous amorphous carbon materials as superior structural nanomaterials.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52359-6

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