Effects of DNA Encapsulation on Buckling Instability of Carbon Nanotube Based on Nonlocal Elasticity Theory

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are capable to absorb and encapsulate some molecules to create new hybrid nano-structures providing a variety of functionally useful properties. CNTs functionalized by encapsulaitng single-stranded deoxy-ribonucleic acid (ssDNA) promise great potentials for applications in nanotechnology and nano-biotechnology. In this paper, buckling instability of ssDNA@CNT i.e. hybrid nano-structure composed of ssDNA encapsulated inside CNT has been investigated using the nonlocal elasticity theory. The nonlocal elasticity theory is capable to capture the small scale effects due to the discontinuity of nano-structures at atomic scales. The nonlocal elastic rod and shell equations are derived for modeling ssDNA and CNT respectively. Providing numerical examples, it is predicted that, ssDNA@(10,10) CNT is more resistant than the pristine (10,10) CNT against the buckling instability under radial pressure due to the inter-atomic van der Waals interactions between DNA and CNT. Furthermore, nonlocal elasticity theory predicts lower critical buckling pressure than does the local elasticity theory.