As an important component of the solid electrolyte interface in lithium ion batteries and an effective blanket breeding material in fusion reactor, the mechanical property of Li₂O is of great interest but is not well understood. Here we show that the polycrystalline Li₂O nanowires were formed in situ by touching and pulling lithium hydroxide under electron beam (e-beam) illumination. The Li₂O nanowires sustained an enhanced elongation (from 80% to 176%) under low dose e-beam irradiation near room temperature as compared with that (from 51% to 57%) without e-beam irradiation. The extremely high deformability could be understood by the fast Li₂O diffusion under e-beam irradiation and tensile stress condition. The large elongation without e-beam irradiation implies that nano-structured Li₂O is ductile near room temperature.

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