Abstract
THE discovery of carbon nanotubes1,2 has stimulated many theoretical studies of their physical properties3–12, and their bulk synthesis13 should soon make possible experimental measurements of these properties14. All studies so far have assumed that the nanotubes have perfect cylindrical symmetry. Here we show that van der Waals forces between adjacent nanotubes can deform them substantially, destroying this cylindrical symmetry. We present transmission electron microscopy images of two adjacent aligned tubes, about 100 Å in diameter, which show flattening of the tubes along the contact region. Calculations on two-layer nested nanotubes indicate that these deformations can be explained on the basis of van der Waals interactions. We predict that these effects should be observable at least for tubes as small as 20 Å in diameter, and suggest that they may have a significant influence on the tubes' physical properties.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Iijima, S. Nature 354, 56–58 (1992).
Ajayan, P. M. & Iijima, S. Nature 358, 23 (1992).
Iijima, S., Ichihashi, T. & Ando, Y. Nature 356, 776–778 (1992).
Iijima, S., Ajayan, P. M. & Ichihashi, T. Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 3100–3103 (1992).
Saito, R., Fujita, M., Dresselhaus, G. & Dresselhaus, M. S. Phys. Rev. B—Condensed Matter 46, 1804–1811 (1992).
Fujita, M., Saito, R., Dresselhaus, G. & Dresselhaus, M. S. Phys. Rev. B—Condensed Matter 45, 13834–13836 (1992).
Dresselhaus, M. S., Dresselhaus, G. & Saito, R. Phys. Rev. B—Condensed Matter 45, 6234–6242 (1992).
Jishi, R. A. & Dresselhaus, M. S. Phys. Rev. B—Condensed Matter 45, 11305–11311 (1992).
Mintmire, J. W., Dunlap, B. I. & White, C. T. Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 631–634 (1992).
Mintmire, J. W. et al. MRS Symp. Proc. 247, 339–343 (1992).
Sawada, S. I. & Hamada, N. Solid State Commun. 83, 917–919 (1992).
Tersoff, J. Phys. Rev. B46, 15546–15549 (1992).
Ebbesen, T. W. & Ajayan, P. M. Nature 358, 220–222 (1992).
Dresselhaus, M. S. Nature 358, 195–196 (1992).
Isrealachvili, J. N. Intermolecular and Surface Forces, with Applications to Colloidal and Biological Systems 2nd edn. (Academic, London, 1991).
Girifalco, L. A. J. phys. Chem. 96, 858–861 (1992).
Guo, Y. J., Karasawa, N. & Goddard, W. A. II Nature 351, 464–467 (1991).
Cheng, A. L. & Klein, M. L. J. phys. Chem. 95, 6750–6751 (1991).
Cheng, A. L. & Klein, M. L. Phys. Rev. B—Condensed Matter 45, 1889–1895 (1992).
Sprik, M., Cheng, A. L. & Klein, M. L. Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 1660–1663 (1992).
Girifalco, L. A. & Ladd, R. A. J. chem. Phys. 25, 693–697 (1956).
Ruoff, R. S. & Hickman, A. P. J. phys. Chem. 97, 2494–2496 (1993).
Tersoff, J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2879–2882 (1988).
Ge, M. & Sattler, K. Science 260, 515–518 (1993).
Ruoff, R. S., Lorents, D. C., Chan, B., Malhotra, R. & Subramoney, S. Science 259, 346–348 (1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruoff, R., Tersoff, J., Lorents, D. et al. Radial deformation of carbon nanotubes by van der Waals forces. Nature 364, 514–516 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/364514a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/364514a0
This article is cited by
-
A comprehensive review of the effects of various factors on the thermal conductivity and rheological characteristics of CNT nanofluids
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (2023)
-
Aligned carbon nanotubes for lithium-ion batteries: A review
Nano Research (2023)
-
Graphene and graphene nanohybrid composites-based electrodes for physiological sensing applications
Biomedical Microdevices (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.