Radial elasticity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

I. Palaci, S. Fedrigo, H. Brune, C. Klinke, M. Chen, E. Riedo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report an experimental and a theoretical study of the radial elasticity of multiwalled 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±10GPa.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number175502
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume94
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - May 6 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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