Radial deformation measurements of isolated pairs of single-walled carbon nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper presents direct TEM measurements of radial deformations in isolated pairs of single-walled carbon nanotubes caused by atomic interactions, comparing results with prior experiments and simulations.

Contribution

First direct measurement of radial deformations in isolated SWNT pairs using high-resolution TEM, providing new empirical data on nanotube interactions.

Findings

Radial deformations are measurable and significant.

Data aligns with previous experimental and simulation results.

Provides new empirical evidence for nanotube interaction effects.

Abstract

Interactions between atoms of bound single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are known to cause measurable distortion to the tube's original circular cross-section frame. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) investigation was used here to directly image and verify these radial deformations. The data presented here provide, for the first time, direct measurements of the deformations due to the interactions between isolated pairs of nanotubes. The deformation data is compared to previously reported experimental and simulation results.