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arXiv · 1201.5501

Radial elasticity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Ismael Palaci·Stephan Fedrigo·Harald Brune·Christian Klinke·Michael Chen·Elisa Riedo
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Abstract

We report an experimental and a theoretical study of the radial elasticity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a function of external radius. We use atomic force microscopy and apply small indentation amplitudes in order to stay in the linear elasticity regime. The number of layers for a given tube radius is inferred from transmission electron microscopy, revealing constant ratios of external to internal radii. This enables a comparison with molecular dynamics results, which also shed some light onto the applicability of Hertz theory in this context. Using this theory, we find a radial Young modulus strongly decreasing with increasing radius and reaching an asymptotic value of 30 +/- 10 GPa.

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Ismael Palaci, Stephan Fedrigo, Harald Brune, Christian Klinke, Michael Chen, Elisa Riedo. 2012-01-26. Radial elasticity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.94.175502

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