Web Release Date: October 15,
Structural Transformations of Carbon Nanotubes under Hydrostatic Pressure
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The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, and Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-972, Brazil
Received August 18, 2005
Revised September 26, 2005
Abstract:
We used simulations with a classical force field to study the transformation under hydrostatic pressure of isolated single-walled nanotubes (SWNT) from a circular to a collapsed cross section. Small-diameter SWNTs deform continuously under pressure, whereas larger-diameter SWNTs display hysteresis and undergo a first-order-like transformation. The different behavior is due to the changing proportions in the total energy of the wall-curvature energy and the van der Waals attraction between opposite walls of the tube.
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