Abstract
On any size scale, it is important to know how strongly structural components are held together. The purpose of this work was to develop a means to estimate the collective binding energy holding together a bundle of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Carbon nanotubes in isolation and in bundles have unique and useful properties and applications within supramolecular structures and nanotechnology. Equations were derived to represent the total number of pairwise interactions between the CNTs found in various size and shape bundles. The shapes considered included diamond, hexagon, parallelogram, and rectangle. Parameters were used to characterize the size of a bundle for each defined shape. Force field molecular modeling was used to obtain the total bundle binding energies for a number of sample bundles. From the number of interactions per bundle, the binding energy per interaction was determined. This process was repeated for armchair CNTs having a range of length and circumference values. A simple equation described the interaction energy based on the length and circumference of the component armchair type nanotubes. When combined with the bundle shape and size parameters, the total bundle binding energy could be found. Comparison with whole bundle molecular mechanics calculations showed our formula-based approach to be effective.
Highlights
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit remarkable tensile strength and high thermal conductivity
Two-dimensional patterns of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundles are scalable for utilization in devices and nanocomposites based on their unique optical, electrical, and mechanical properties that depend on isolated tube behaviors and the collective behavior based on tube–tube interactions [2]
The bundle shape and size determined the total number of pairwise interactions among the CNTs
Summary
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit remarkable tensile strength and high thermal conductivity. Their electrical properties can vary from high conductivity metallic to semiconductor depending on their configuration. There are a number of interesting properties, behaviors, and potential applications of both isolated carbon nanotubes, as well as collections of CNTs found in pure bundles or combined with other molecules or polymers to create more complex mixed nanostructures. Two-dimensional patterns of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) bundles are scalable for utilization in devices and nanocomposites based on their unique optical, electrical, and mechanical properties that depend on isolated tube behaviors and the collective behavior based on tube–tube interactions [2]. Other interesting properties and applications for CNT bundles are considered below
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