Title: Effects of geometry of nano-structured materials on their thermal expansion: tellurium nanocylinders as model system

Authors: Vojislav Krstic, Geert L.J.A. Rikken, Martti Kaempgen, Siegmar Roth, Jon A. Beukes

Addresses: Laboratoire National des Champs Magnetiques Pulses, CNRS/INSA/UPS, 143, Avenue de Rangueil, 31400 Toulouse, France. ' Laboratoire National des Champs Magnetiques Pulses, CNRS/INSA/UPS, 143, Avenue de Rangueil, 31400 Toulouse, France. ' Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, 475 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. ' Max-Planck-Institut fur Festkorperforschung, Heisenbergstr. 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany. ' Department of Physics, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract: The temperature-dependence of the atomic bond-lengths and -angles of the unit cell of crystalline tellurium nanocylinders (a few µm 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.

Keywords: nanomaterials; nanocylinders; nanotechnology; thermal properties; X-ray diffraction; tellurium; thermal expansion; materials properties; thermomechanics; temperature.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMSI.2007.013873

International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity, 2007 Vol.1 No.1/2/3, pp.201 - 211

Published online: 31 May 2007 *

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