Effects of geometry of nano-structured materials on their thermal expansion: tellurium nanocylinders as model system. (1st June 2007)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krstic, Vojislav; Rikken, Geert L.J.A.; Kaempgen, Martti; Roth, Siegmar; , Jon A. Beukes
• Is Part Of: International journal of materials and structural integrity. Volume 1:Number 1/2/3(2007)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 211
• Publication Date: 2007-06-01
• Subjects: nanomaterials -- nanocylinders -- nanotechnology -- thermal properties -- X-ray diffraction -- tellurium -- thermal expansion -- materials properties -- thermomechanics -- temperature; Materials -- Testing -- Periodicals; Strength of materials -- Periodicals; Structural dynamics -- Periodicals; Structural analysis (Engineering) -- Periodicals; 620.112
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1745-0055

Abstract

The temperature-dependence of the atomic bond-lengths and -angles of the unit cell of crystalline tellurium nanocylinders (a few m in length and some 100 nm in diameter) have been investigated by X-ray diffraction in the range from 370 K to 100 K. With decrease in temperature, significant deviations from the established temperature-dependence of the bulk tellurium lattice parameters are observed. The observations in the temperature expansion are attributed to the nano-size and symmetry of the tellurium nanocylinders. The study demonstrates that a qualitative change in the material's properties is achieved when approaching the nano-scale. This opens the road for the possibility of deliberate tailoring of materials properties by proper choice of size and symmetry for thermo-mechanical applications.