Carbon Nanotubes in Arrays: Competition of van-der-Waals and Elastic Forces

Abstract

The van-der-Waals interaction between carbon nanotubes leads to the formation of agglomerates of bundles and strands. In such a self-assemblage, identical nanotubes are assembled into arrays with a high degree of ordering forming a crystalline structure. However, the van-der-Waals forces also result in a strain of the cross-section normal to their axes instead of only in the mutual attraction of nanotubes. This work presents an analysis of the nanotube strain and crystal-lattice parameters depending on the nanotube sizes and crystal symmetry.