Interactions and Binding Energies in Carbon Nanotube Bundles

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.

Electrophoretic Deposition of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Coatings on CoCrMo Alloy for Biomedical Applications

“…Similar behaviors of functionalized MWCNTs have been observed in the literature [38,39]. It should be noted that carbon particles in carbon nanotubes are connected by weak Van der Waals forces [40]. The functionalization process causes the C=C bond to be broken, as a result of which the MWCNTs-F are shortened [39].…”

“…Microscopic analysis was used to characterize the microstructure of the obtained MWCNTs coatings on the surface of the dental CoCrMo alloy. Scanning electron microscopy is an indispensable tool that enables the proper characterization of the size and shape of carbon nanotubes [38][39][40][41]. Figure 2 presents exemplary FE-SEM images showing the surface morphology of MWCNTs-R and MWCNTs-F coatings with a thickness of 7.54 ± 0.55 µm and 6.89 ± 0.32 µm, respectively.…”

“…Microscopic analysis was used to characterize the microstructure of the obtained MWCNTs coatings on the surface of the dental CoCrMo alloy. Scanning electron microscopy is an indispensable tool that enables the proper characterization of the size and shape of carbon nanotubes [38][39][40][41]. Figure 2 The obtained MWCNTs-R coatings showed poor adhesion to the alloy substrate (Figure 2a,b).…”

Tuning the Optical Properties and Conductivity of Bundles in Networks of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

“…Generally, highly conductive and transparent SWCNT networks can be formed by either individual nanotubes or their bundles depending on the parameters of synthesis and further processing. , Typically, van der Waals interactions between nanotubes cause SWCNT aggregation into bundles up to tens of nanometers in diameter. , Thus, the sophisticated and usually expensive approaches to SWCNT synthesis , or sorting , should be used to prevent bundling and to allow obtaining the networks of individual nanotubes. The disentanglement of carbon nanotube bundles usually causes shortening and introduction of defects in the SWCNTs …”