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Torsional response and stiffening of individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes

P. A. Williams·S. J. Papadakis·A. M. Patel·M. R. Falvo·S. Washburn·R. Superfine
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Abstract

We report on the characterization of torsional oscillators which use multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the spring elements. Through atomic-force-microscope force-distance measurements we are able to apply torsional strains to the nanotubes and measure their torsional spring constants and effective shear moduli. We find that the effective shear moduli cover a broad range, with the largest values near the theoretically predicted value. The data also suggest that the nanotubes are stiffened by repeated flexing.

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P. A. Williams, S. J. Papadakis, A. M. Patel, M. R. Falvo, S. Washburn, R. Superfine. 2002-07-01. Torsional response and stiffening of individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.89.255502

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