Search results for " Carbon Nanotubes"
showing 10 items of 84 documents
In situ nucleation of carbon nanotubes by the injection of carbon atoms into metal particles.
2007
The synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of desired chiralities and diameters is one of the most important challenges in nanotube science and achieving such selectivity may require a detailed understanding of their growth mechanism. We report the formation of CNTs in an entirely condensed phase process that allows us, for the first time, to monitor the nucleation of a nanotube on the spherical surface of a metal particle. When multiwalled CNTs containing metal particle cores are irradiated with an electron beam, carbon from graphitic shells surrounding the metal particles is ingested into the body of the particle and subsequently emerges as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) or multiwalled nan…
Multiwalled carbon nanotube reinforced polymer composites
2008
Due to their high stiffness and strength, as well as their electrical conductivity, carbon nanotubes are under intense investigation as fillers in polymer matrix composites. The nature of the carbon nanotube/polymer bonding and the curvature of the carbon nanotubes within the polymer have arisen as particular factors in the efficacy of the carbon nanotubes to actually provide any enhanced stiffness or strength to the composite. Here the effects of carbon nanotube curvature and interface interaction with the matrix on the composite stiffness are investigated using micromechanical analysis. In particular, the effects of poor bonding and thus poor shear lag load transfer to the carbon nanotube…
Stability of carbon nanotubes under electron irradiation: Role of tube diameter and chirality
2005
As recent experiments demonstrate, the inner shells of multiwalled carbon nanotubes are more sensitive to electron irradiation than the outer shells. To understand the origin of such counterintuitive behavior, we employ a density-functional-theory based tight-binding method and calculate the displacement threshold energies for carbon atoms in single-walled nanotubes with different diameters and chiralities. We show that the displacement energy and the defect production rate strongly depend on the diameter of the nanotube and its chirality, with the displacement energy being lower, but saturating towards the value for graphite when the tube diameter increases. This implies that the threshold…
Quantum Transport and Current Distribution at Radio Frequency in Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes
2012
Multiwall carbon nanotubes represent a low-dimensional material that could serve as building blocks for future carbon-based nanoelectronics. The understanding of the electromagnetic performances at radio frequency of these materials for use in nanointerconnects is strictly related to the analysis of their transport properties as function of the working conditions. In this paper, we present an explicit expression of the conducting channels as function of diameter, temperature, doping, and supply voltage for both metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes. The proposed formula is based on the Dirac cone approximation of the conducting band energy of graphene nearby the Fermi points, combine…
Local photo-oxidation of individual single walled carbon nanotubes probed by femtosecond four wave mixing imaging
2014
Photo-oxidation of individual, air-suspended single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is studied by femtosecond laser spectroscopy and imaging. Individual SWCNTs are imaged by four wave mixing (FWM) microscopy under an inert gas (Ar or N2) atmosphere. When imaging is performed in an ambient air atmosphere, the decay of the FWM signal takes place. Electron microscopy shows that SWCNTs are not destroyed and the process is attributed to photoinduced oxidation reactions which proceed via a non-linear excitation mechanism, when irradiation is performed with ∼30 fs pulses in the visible spectral region (500-600 nm). Photo-oxidation can be localized in specific regions of SWCNTs within optical reso…
Carbon nanotubes as high-pressure cylinders and nanoextruders.
2006
Closed-shell carbon nanostructures, such as carbon onions, have been shown to act as self-contracting high-pressure cells under electron irradiation. We report that controlled irradiation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes can cause large pressure buildup within the nanotube cores that can plastically deform, extrude, and break solid materials that are encapsulated inside the core. We further showed by atomistic simulations that the internal pressure inside nanotubes can reach values higher than 40 gigapascals. Nanotubes can thus be used as robust nanoscale jigs for extruding and deforming hard nanomaterials and for modifying their properties, as well as templates for the study of individual n…
Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube–Polyamidoamine Dendrimer Hybrids for Heterogeneous Catalysis
2016
We report the synthesis and catalytic properties of single-walled carbon nanotube-polyamidoamine dendrimers hybrids (SWCNT-PAMAM), prepared via a convergent strategy. The direct reaction of cystamine-based PAMAM dendrimers (generations 2.5 and 3.0) with pristine SWCNTs in refluxing toluene, followed by immobilization and reduction of [PdCl4](2-), led to the formation of highly dispersed small palladium nanoparticles homogeneously confined throughout the nanotube length. One of these functional materials proved to be an efficient catalyst in Suzuki and Heck reactions, able to promote the above processes down to 0.002 mol % showing a turnover number (TON) of 48 000 and a turnover frequency (T…
Mechanical properties of nanostructured carbon layers grown by CVD and PLD techniques
2010
Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) have been proven to be among the most successful techniques for growing the entire spectrum of carbon films, which can be used in a wide range of technical applications. Here an investigation has been performed to explore the effect of different growing techniques (PLD and CVD) and process parameters (such as deposition time and substrate type) on the films' morphology and mechanical properties. The mechanical properties of the grown thin films were characterised by means of nano/micro indentation and scratch test techniques. It was observed that the thickness of the Al2O3 interlayer (between the Fe catalyst nanoparticles an…
Influence of F centres on structural and electronic properties of AlN single-walled nanotubes
2007
We analyse the influence of uncharged N vacancies (neutral F centres), created either under conditions of AlN nanotube growth or by its soft irradiation, on the atomic and electronic structure. Periodic one-dimensional (1D) density functional theory (DFT) calculations on models of defective single-walled nanotubes (SW NTs) allow us to analyse how NT chirality and concentration of F centres change their properties compared to the corresponding defect-free nanotubes. We have simulated reconstruction around periodically repeated F centres on 1 nm AlN SW NTs with armchair- and zigzag-type chiralities. To achieve the limit of an isolated vacancy for both chiralities, we have considered different…
SrTiO3 Nanotubes with Negative Strain Energy Predicted from First Principles
2011
On the basis of hybrid density functional theory calculations, we predict that the most energetically favorable single-walled SrTiO3 nanotubes with negative strain energy can be folded from SrTiO3 (110) nanosheets of rectangular morphology. Further formation of multiwalled tubular nanostructure with interwall distance of ∼0.46 nm yields an additional gain in energy of 0.013 eV per formula unit. (The formation energy of the most stable nanotube is 1.36 eV/SrTiO3.) Because of increase in the Ti–O bond covalency in the outer shells, SrTiO3 nanotubes can demonstrate an enhancement of their adsorption properties. Quantum confinement leads to a widening of the energy band gap of single-walled SrT…