Chain- and chainmail-like nanostructures from carbon nanotube rings

Abstract

A computational study on the structure, stability and mechanical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) rings and derived 1D and 2D superstructures is presented. CNT rings were used as building blocks for CNT-based nanochains and nanochainmails, i.e., nanostructures similar to conventional chains and chainmails. Molecular dynamics simulations show that these structures are stable, mechanically strong and highly flexible, reaching strains as high as 0.50 without breaking. The stability of CNT rings was shown to be dependent on both ring and CNT diameters, affecting directly the mechanical behavior of the CNT-based superstructures. The interesting combination of strength, flexibility and lightness exhibited by these materials enable their use in several potential applications, such as reinforced materials, membranes and actuators in miniaturized devices.