Deformation of copper-filled single-walled boron-nitride nanotubes under axial compression

The buckling behaviors of copper–filled single-walled boron-nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) under axial compression are studied by molecular mechanics simulations. This study shows that the stability of this composite nanostructure (Cu@BNNT) gets better with the decrease of the tube diameter. An obvious decrease of the strain energy and vdW energy is observed at the onset of the global compressive buckling. Comparison of the axial compressing behavior between the Cu@BNNT(7,7) and Cu@BNNT(11,11) reveals that they have different buckling deformation and energy loss. Moreover, the stability of a BNNT filled with larger number of atoms is better than the one filled with small number of atoms.