Structural Properties of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Driven by Mechanical Interlayer Coupling

• Published in: ACS nano Vol. 11; no. 5; pp. 4840 - 4847
• Main Authors: Ghedjatti, Ahmed, Magnin, Yann, Fossard, Frédéric, Wang, Guillaume, Amara, Hakim, Flahaut, Emmanuel, Lauret, Jean-Sébastien, Loiseau, Annick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 23-05-2017
• Subjects: Condensed Matter; Materials Science; Physics; DWNT; atomic-scale modeling; mechanical coupling; statistical analysis; HRTEM; van der Waals; Atomic scale modeling; Doubel-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b01328

Structural identification of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) is presented through a robust procedure based on the latest generation of transmission electron microscope, making possible a statistical analysis based on numerous nano-objects. This approach reveals that inner and outer tubes of DWNTs are not randomly oriented, suggesting the existence of a mechanical coupling between the two concentric walls. With the support of atomic-scale modeling, we attribute it to the presence of incommensurate domains whose structures depend on the diameters and helicities of both tubes and where inner tubes try to achieve a local stacking orientation to reduce strain effects.