171 research outputs found
Intrinsic thermal vibrations of suspended doubly clamped single-wall carbon nanotubes
We report the observation of thermally driven mechanical vibrations of
suspended doubly clamped carbon nanotubes, grown by chemical vapor deposition
(CVD). Several experimental procedures are used to suspend carbon nanotubes.
The vibration is observed as a blurring in images taken with a scanning
electron microscope. The measured vibration amplitudes are compared with a
model based on linear continuum mechanics.Comment: pdf including figures, see:
http://www.unibas.ch/phys-meso/Research/Papers/2003/NT-Thermal-Vibrations.pd
Pressure-Induced Interlinking of Carbon Nanotubes
We predict new forms of carbon consisting of one and two dimensional networks
of interlinked single wall carbon nanotubes, some of which are energetically
more stable than van der Waals packing of the nanotubes on a hexagonal lattice.
These interlinked nanotubes are further transformed with higher applied
external pressures to more dense and complicated stable structures, in which
curvature-induced carbon sp re-hybridizations are formed. We also discuss
the energetics of the bond formation between nanotubes and the electronic
properties of these predicted novel structures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figures; To be appear in PR
Reversible Band Gap Engineering in Carbon Nanotubes by Radial Deformation
We present a systematic analysis of the effect of radial deformation on the
atomic and electronic structure of zigzag and armchair single wall carbon
nanotubes using the first principle plane wave method. The nanotubes were
deformed by applying a radial strain, which distorts the circular cross section
to an elliptical one. The atomic structure of the nanotubes under this strain
are fully optimized, and the electronic structure is calculated
self-consistently to determine the response of individual bands to the radial
deformation. The band gap of the insulating tube is closed and eventually an
insulator-metal transition sets in by the radial strain which is in the elastic
range. Using this property a multiple quantum well structure with tunable and
reversible electronic structure is formed on an individual nanotube and its
band-lineup is determined from first-principles. The elastic energy due to the
radial deformation and elastic constants are calculated and compared with
classical theories.Comment: To be appear in Phys. Rev. B, Apr 15, 200
The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The MOS Cameras
The EPIC focal plane imaging spectrometers on XMM-Newton use CCDs to record
the images and spectra of celestial X-ray sources focused by the three X-ray
mirrors. There is one camera at the focus of each mirror; two of the cameras
contain seven MOS CCDs, while the third uses twelve PN CCDs, defining a
circular field of view of 30 arcmin diameter in each case. The CCDs were
specially developed for EPIC, and combine high quality imaging with spectral
resolution close to the Fano limit. A filter wheel carrying three kinds of
X-ray transparent light blocking filter, a fully closed, and a fully open
position, is fitted to each EPIC instrument. The CCDs are cooled passively and
are under full closed loop thermal control. A radio-active source is fitted for
internal calibration. Data are processed on-board to save telemetry by removing
cosmic ray tracks, and generating X-ray event files; a variety of different
instrument modes are available to increase the dynamic range of the instrument
and to enable fast timing. The instruments were calibrated using laboratory
X-ray beams, and synchrotron generated monochromatic X-ray beams before launch;
in-orbit calibration makes use of a variety of celestial X-ray targets. The
current calibration is better than 10% over the entire energy range of 0.2 to
10 keV. All three instruments survived launch and are performing nominally in
orbit. In particular full field-of-view coverage is available, all electronic
modes work, and the energy resolution is close to pre-launch values. Radiation
damage is well within pre-launch predictions and does not yet impact on the
energy resolution. The scientific results from EPIC amply fulfil pre-launch
expectations.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the A&A Special
Issue on XMM-Newto
Influence of adding multiwalled carbon nanotubes on the adhesive strength of composite epoxy/sol–gel materials
The tensile shear strength of a composite epoxy/sol–gel system modified with different ratios of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was evaluated using a mechanical testing machine. The experimental results showed that the shear strength increased when lower than ~0.07 wt% of MWCNTs were added in the composite solution. The increase of the shear strength was attributed to both the mechanical load transfer from the matrix to the MWCNTs and the high specific surface area of this material that increased the degree of crosslinking with other inorganic fillers in the formulation. However, a decrease in the adhesive shear strength was observed after more than ~0.07 wt% MWCNTs were added to the composite. The reason for this may be related to the high concentration of MWCNTs within the matrix leading to excessively high viscosity, dewetting of the substrate surfaces, and reduced bonding of MWCNTs with the
matrix, thereby limiting the strength. SEM observation of the fracture surfaces for composite epoxy/sol–gel adhesive materials with 0.01 wt% MWCNTs showed a mixed interfacial/cohesive fracture mode. This fracture mode indicated strong links at the adhesive/substrate interface, and interaction between CNTs and the matrix was achieved; therefore, adhesion performance of the composite epoxy/sol–gel material to the substrate was improved. An increase of a strong peak related to the C–O bond at ~1733 cm-1 in the FTIR spectra was observed. This peak represented crosslinking between the CNT surface and the organosilica
nanoparticles in the MWCNTs-doped composite adhesive. Raman spectroscopy was also used to identify MWCNTs within the adhesive material. The Raman spectra exhibit peaks at ~1275 cm-1 and in the range of ~1549–1590 cm-1. The former is the graphite G-band, while the latter is the diamond D-band. The D-band and G-band represent the C–C single bond and C=C double bond in carbon nanotubes, respectively
Tuning the electronic properties of boron nitride nanotube by mechanical uni-axial deformation: a DFT study
The effect of uni-axial strain on the electronic properties of (8,0) zigzag and (5,5) armchair boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) is addressed by density functional theory calculation. The stress-strain profiles indicate that these two BNNTS of differing types display very similar mechanical properties, but there are variations in HOMO-LUMO gaps at different strains, indicating that the electronic properties of BNNTs not only depend on uni-axial strain, but on BNNT type. The variations in nanotube geometries, partial density of states of B and N atoms, B and N charges are also discussed for (8,0) and (5,5) BNNTs at different strains
Vibrational properties of single-wall nanotubes and monolayers of hexagonal BN
We report a detailed study of the vibrational properties of BN single-walled
nanotubes and of the BN monolayer. Our results have been obtained from a
well-established Tight-Binding model complemented with an electrostatic model
to account for the long-range interactions arising from the polar nature of the
material, and which are not included in the Tight-Binding model. Our study
provides a wealth of data for the BN monolayer and nanotubes, such as phonon
band structure, vibrational density of states, elastic constants, etc. For the
nanotubes we obtain the behavior of the optically active modes as a function of
the structural parameters, and we compare their frequencies with those derived
from a zone-folding treatment applied to the phonon frequencies of the BN
monolayer, finding general good agreement between the two.Comment: 14 pages with 10 postscript figures, to appear in PRB, January 15th
200
Hybrid effects in graphene oxide/carbon nanotube-supported Layered Double Hydroxides: Enhancing the CO₂ sorption properties
Graphene oxide (GO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have been previously used independently as active supports for Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH), and found to enhance the intrinsic CO₂ sorption capacity of the adsorbents. However, the long-term stability of the materials subjected to temperature-swing adsorption (TSA) cycles still requires improvement. In this contribution, GO and MWCNT are hybridized to produce mixed substrates with improved surface area and compatibility for the deposition of LDH platelets, compared to either phase alone. The incorporation of a robust and thoroughly hybridized carbon network considerably enhances the thermal stability of activated, promoted LDH over twenty cycles of gas adsorption-desorption (96% of retention of the initial sorption capacity at the 20th cycle), dramatically reducing the sintering previously observed when either GO or MWCNT were added separately. Detailed characterization of the morphology of the supported LDH, at several stages of the multicycle adsorption process, shows that the initial morphology of the adsorbents is more strongly retained when supported on the robust hybrid GO/MWCNT network; the CO₂ adsorption performance correlates closely with the specific surface area of the adsorbents, with both maximized at small loadings of a 1:1 ratio of GO:MWCNT substrate
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