Boron nitride nanotube peapods at ultrasonic velocity impacts: A fully atomistic molecular dynamics investigation.

Boron nitride nanotube peapods (BNNT-peapod) are composed of linear chains of C60
molecules encapsulated inside boron nitride nanotubes, they were first synthesized in 2003.
In this work, we investigated the mechanical response and fracture dynamics of BNNT-
peapods under ultrasonic velocity impacts (from 1 km/s up to 6 km/s) against a solid target.
We carried out fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations using a ReaxFF
forcefield. We have considered the case of horizontal and vertical shootings. Depending on
the velocity values, we observed nanotube bending, nanotube fracture, and C60 ejection.
Furthermore, the nanotube unzips for horizontal impacts at certain speeds, forming bi-layer
nanoribbons "incrusted" with C60 molecules. The methodology used here is applicable to
other nanostructures. We hope it motivates other theoretical investigations on the behavior
of nanostructures at ultrasonic velocity impacts and aid in interpreting future experimental
results. It should be stressed that similar experiments and simulations were carried out
on carbon nanotubes trying to obtain nanodiamonds. The present study expands these
investigations to include BNNT.