Carbon Nanotubes: Nanohinge‐Induced Plasticity of Helical Carbon Nanotubes (Small 21/2013)

Shaping a brittle CNT into a coiled nanospring by introducing well-designed defects causes nanohinge formations in the plastic deformation under tension, and achieves ultra-high gravimetric toughness up to 5000 J/g, exceeding that of the state-ofthe-art CNT composites. On page 3561, Z. L. Zhang and co-workers report that the high toughness arises from the distributed partial fractures of tensed brittle CNT nanosprings, and the mechanisms involved in initiating and arresting fractures form the nanohinge structure due to the specific defect arrangement. In addition to the unique structural, mechanical, electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties of CNT materials, the extreme toughness of nanosprings will greatly compliment CNT device development in the future, for example, for multifunctional energy applications and nanoscale electromechanical or electromagnetic systems.