Structural and helix reversal defects of carbon nanosprings

TL;DR

This paper investigates the deformation behaviors and defect formations in carbon nanosprings derived from graphene helicoids, revealing their high thermal expansion and potential for nanosensor applications.

Contribution

It introduces a molecular dynamics analysis of bending and twisting deformations in carbon nanosprings, focusing on structural and helix reversal defects.

Findings

Nanosprings exhibit higher axial thermal expansion than metals.

Structural and helix reversal defects depend on geometric characteristics.

Results inform design of temperature-resilient nanosensors.

Abstract

Due to their chiral structure, carbon nanosprings possess unique properties that are promising for nanotechnology applications. The structural transformations of carbon nanosprings in the form of spiral macromolecules derived from planar coronene and kekulene molecules (graphene helicoids and spiral nanoribbons) are analyzed using molecular dynamics simulations. While the tension/compression of such nanosprings has been analyzed in the literature, this study investigates other modes of deformation, including bending and twisting. Depending on the geometric characteristics of the carbon nanosprings, the formation of structural and helix reversal defects is described. It is found that nanosprings demonstrate a significantly higher coefficient of axial thermal expansion than many metals and alloys. These results are useful for designing nanosensors that operate over a wide temperature range.