Thermally Activated Interlayer Bonding in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

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• 作者：Chun Tang ; Yi Zhang ; Wanlin Guo ; Changfeng Chen
• 刊名：Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2010
• 出版时间：October 28, 2010
• 年：2010
• 卷：114
• 期：42
• 页码：18091-18095
• 全文大小：237K
• 年卷期：v.114,no.42(October 28, 2010)
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

Recent experimental and theoretical results show that interlayer bonds in multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) play a pivotal role in improving their mechanical and electronic properties desirable for device applications. However, generation of interlayer bonds while maintaining tube structural integrity remains a key challenge. Here we demonstrate by molecular dynamics simulations that high-temperature thermal treatment can controllably activate interlayer bonding in MWCNTs and few-layer graphene systems, which leads to a significant improvement in their mechanical properties such as load carrying capacity and high-temperature tensile ductility. Moreover, first-principles calculations show that interlayer bonding opens up energy gaps in metallic MWCNTs, providing a way to produce all-semiconducting MWCNTs. These results offer new insights into the behavior of MWCNTs and raise prospects of effective thermal engineering of their structural, mechanical, and electronic properties.