Article abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 3, 626 - 631 (2008)
Published online: 10 August 2008 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.211
Subject Categories: Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes | Structural properties | Synthesis and processing
Measurements of near-ultimate strength for multiwalled carbon nanotubes and irradiation-induced crosslinking improvements
Bei Peng1,4, Mark Locascio1,4, Peter Zapol2, Shuyou Li1, Steven L. Mielke3, George C. Schatz3 & Horacio D. Espinosa1
Abstract
The excellent mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes are being exploited in a growing number of applications from ballistic armour to nanoelectronics. However, measurements of these properties have not achieved the values predicted by theory due to a combination of artifacts introduced during sample preparation and inadequate measurements. Here we report multiwalled carbon nanotubes with a mean fracture strength >100 GPa, which exceeds earlier observations by a factor of approximately three. These results are in excellent agreement with quantum-mechanical estimates for nanotubes containing only an occasional vacancy defect, and are 
80% of the values expected for defect-free tubes. This performance is made possible by omitting chemical treatments from the sample preparation process, thus avoiding the formation of defects. High-resolution imaging was used to directly determine the number of fractured shells and the chirality of the outer shell. Electron irradiation at 200 keV for 10, 100 and 1,800 s led to improvements in the maximum sustainable loads by factors of 2.4, 7.9 and 11.6 compared with non-irradiated samples of similar diameter. This effect is attributed to crosslinking between the shells. Computer simulations also illustrate the effects of various irradiation-induced crosslinking defects on load sharing between the shells.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111, USA
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3113, USA
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Horacio D. Espinosa1 e-mail: espinosa@northwestern.edu
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