Physics

3D structure of multilayer carbon nanotubes

E. A. Belenkov

Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia

Abstract: The multiwall carbon nanotube structures have been investigated in the paper. As a result, it is established that there exists five types $(n,0), (n,n), (5n,n), (5n,2n), (10n,3n)$ of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, composed of nanotubes with identical chirality. Degrees of these types chirality are $k = 0, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1$ (for nanotube $(n, m)$ $k$ is equal to $m / n$). The interlayer distance $\mathrm{d}002$ for each of the subtypes are constants $0.3528$, $0.35927$, $0.34842$, $0.34174$ and $0.33948$ nm. For multilayer nanotubes composed of tubes with arbitrary chiralities intertubes distances are no constant and vary over a wide range from $0.3354$ to $0.345$ nm. Calculations of intertubes interactions, performed by the atom-atom potential method showed that the difference in the binding energies in various mutual shifts and turns of nested nanotubes is negligible (less than $1\%$ of the total binding energy). It should lead to a lack of an order in their mutual arrangement.

Keywords: multi-walled carbon nanotube, structure, molecular mechanics, atom-atom potential method, binding energy.

UDC: 538.911

Received: 24.10.2016
Revised: 05.11.2016

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