Diamond nanoneedles have strength approaching the theoretical maximum The strength of a material is a measure of its ability to withstand a load without breaking. Scientists in search of the strongest materials have recently turned their attention to nanomaterials, which have few of the defects that typically reduce a material's strength. On page 300 of this issue, Banerjee et al. (1) show that when nanoscale single-crystal diamond needles are elastically deformed, they fail at a maximum local tensile stress of ∼89 to 98 GPa, which is very close to the theoretical limit for this material.

中文翻译：

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寻求最坚固的材料

金刚石纳米针的强度接近理论最大值。材料的强度是衡量其承受负载而不断裂的能力。寻找最强材料的科学家们最近将注意力转向纳米材料，纳米材料几乎没有通常会降低材料强度的缺陷。在本期第 300 页，Banerjee 等人。(1) 表明当纳米级单晶金刚石针弹性变形时，它们在最大局部拉伸应力约为 89 到 98 GPa 时失效，这非常接近该材料的理论极限。