In Situ Observation of High Bending Strain Recoverability in Au Nanowires

Metallic nanowires (NW) usually exhibit unique physical, mechanical, and chemical properties compared to their bulk counterparts. Despite extensive research on their mechanical behavior, the atomic-scale deformation mechanisms of metallic nanowires remain incompletely understood. In this study, we investigate the deformation behavior of Au nanowires embedded with a longitudinal twin boundary (TB) under different loading rates using in situ nanomechanical testing integrated with atomistic simulations. The Au nanowires exhibit a recoverable bending strain of up to 27.5% with the presence of TBs. At low loading rates, the recoverable bending is attributed to the motion of stacking faults (SFs) and their interactions with TBs. At higher loading rates, the formation of high-angle grain boundaries and their reversible migration become dominant in Au nanowires. These findings enhance our understanding of the bending behavior of metallic nanowires, which could inspire the design of nanodevices with improved fatigue resistance and a large recoverable strain capacity.