An Overview of Mechanical Properties of Diamond-like Phases under Tension

Diamond-like phases are materials with crystal lattices very similar to diamond. Recent results suggest that diamond-like phases are superhard and superstrong materials that can be used for tribological applications or as protective coatings. In this work, 14 stable diamond-like phases based on fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene layers are studied via molecular dynamics simulation. The compliance constants, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio were calculated. Deformation behavior under tension is analyzed based on two deformation modes—bond rotation and bond elongation. The results show that some of the considered phases possess very high Young’s modulus ($E\ge 1$) TPa, even higher than that of diamond. Both Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio exhibit mechanical anisotropy. Half of the studied phases are partial auxetics possessing negative Poisson’s ratio with a minimum value of −0.8. The obtained critical values of applied tensile strain confirmed that diamond-like phases are high-strength structures with a promising application prospect. Interestingly, the critical limit is not a fracture but a phase transformation to the short-ordered crystal lattice. Overall, our results suggest that diamond-like phases have extraordinary mechanical properties, making them good materials for protective coatings.