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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Mechanical properties of face-centered cubic supercrystals of nanocrystals
Enrico Tam1, Paul Podsiadlo, Elena Shevchenko
1Chemicals and Materials Department, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium.
Abstract:
We report the first nanoindentation studies of well-ordered nanocrystal supercrystals composed of 7 nm lead sulfide nanocrystals stabilized with oleic acid ligands as a model system. Their modulus and hardness were found to be similar to hard polymers at 1.7 GPa and 70 MPa, respectively, and the fracture toughness was 40 KPa/m(1/2), revealing the brittle nature of these materials. The mechanical properties are dominated by the organic capping agents surrounding the inorganic cores. The close-packed structure distributes stress evenly increasing the modulus and hardness. The relatively short ligands are not likely to be highly interdigitated leading to low dissipation during crack propagation and a low-fracture toughness value.
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