Freestanding carbon nanotubes may be thinner than previously thought possible
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 07:31
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org)—Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are renowned for their thinness, having diameters as small as 3 angstroms (Å), or 0.3 nm. It's generally thought that ultrathin CNTs with diameters smaller than 3 Å are unstable because, at that scale, the bonds that hold the atoms together become distorted and lead to collapse. So far, the thinnest of these CNTs – those thinner than 4 Å – have been found only confined inside a thicker CNT. In a new study, scientists have presented simulations that show that a CNT with an outer diameter of just 3.2 Å can theoretically exist without confinement and remain stable at temperatures up to 1000 K, which would make it one of the thinnest CNTs ever synthesized.