The van der Waals interactions of concentric nanotubes

Abstract

Concentric fullerene tubes (nanotubes) are stabilized by a competition between the short-range kinetic-energy repulsion and the long-range van der Waals binding. At the relevant binding distances (3–3.5 Å or 6–7 Bohr radii) the traditional first-principle density-functional theory calculations cannot account for these combined interactions. An accurate quantum-physics account of the multi-walled nanotube structure and dynamics must therefore also include a determination of the intertube van der Waals forces. We use a successful model of the electrodynamical response of the nanotube electron gas to provide such a combined description in which we reflect the important self-consistent screening effects arising within the nanotube electron gases. Our description differs significantly from traditional asymptotic calculations of the van der Waals interactions and offers an approximate determination at the relevant intertube binding distances.