ASSIGNMENT I: CARBON NANOTUBES

SUBMITTED TO: DR. K L YADAV

QUEENY DASGUPTA M.TECH NANOTECHNOLOGY ENROLMENT NO.: 10551011 PHYSICS OF NANOMATERIALS

1.How would one classify carbon nanotubes? What are the various kinds of carbon nanotubes? Ans: Carbon nanotubes are of three types on the basis of configurations they undertake when they are rolled along the tube axis. 1. Zigzag. 2. Armchair. 3. Chiral. The structure of a cylindrical tube is best described in terms of a tubule diameter d and a chiral angle . The chiral vector C = na1 + ma2 along with the two parameters d and define the tube. The unit vectors a1 and a2 define the graphene sheet. In a planar sheet of graphene (a single sheet of graphite), carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal structure, with each atom being connected to three neighbors. There are numerous ways in which the tubes can be rolled. While the (n, 0) tubes are called zigzag tubes where is zero, the (n, n) tubes are called armchair tubes where is 30. These two types of tubes have high symmetry and a plane of symmetry perpendicular to the tube axis. Any other tube (n, m) is a chiral tube, which can be either left-handed or right-handed.

2.How would one get the (n,m) indices from the diameter? Ans:.

Where rC-C is the C-C distance of the graphene layer (1.421 ) and C is the length of the chiral vector. Due to the symmetry of the graphene layer, several tubes, although having different (n,m) notations are indeed the same. By knowing values of d and we can obtain the (n,m) indices from the two above equations. 3.What are the diameter-dependent properties of nanotubes? Ans: (1)Raman scattering is found to be highly diameter-dependent. There are specific vibrations in the 1001600 cm1 region which are strongly diameter dependent. The features of specific tubes can be enhanced at specific excitation energies in resonance Raman experiments. This is a manifestation of one dimensionally confined electronic structure. (2) Nanotubes are expected to have a high thermal conductivity and the value increases with decrease in diameter.

(3) As the diameter increases, tubes resemble graphite, which can be metallic. 4.Why is it not possible to insert an arbitrary tube into a given tube? Ans: It is not possible to fit any arbitrary tube in a given tube due to lack of space. For a tube to fit into another there must be a gap of at least 3.44 between the layers. We can fit a (10, 0) tube in a (19, 0) tube, but not in a (18, 0) tube. This is because in order to insert a 7.94 diameter tube, the larger diameter tube has to have a diameter of 14.82 or larger [(7.94) + 2(3.44) ]. The diameters of (19, 0) and (18, 0) tubes are 15.09 and 14.29 , respectively. 5.What are the other materials which can form nanotubes? Ans: Any planar structure should be able to curl and make a tubular structure. Certain clays such as christolite and imogolite are found in tubular form. The structural characteristics of CNTs such as helicity and rotational disorder, are found in these clays too.e.g WS2 and MoS2. A variety of polyhedral and tubular structures of WS2 have been obtained by heating a thin tungsten film in H2S. The curling of a graphite-like sheet of WS2 leads to the creation of defects. 6.Are there specific properties of nanotubes which will be different in multiwalled and single-walled nanotubes? Ans: FEATURES SWNT (1)No. of nanotubes Single (2)Growth mechanism (3)Electronic structure MWNT Many, one rolled inside another. Presence in catalyzed Presence in uncatalyzed conditions. conditions. The 1s resonance in the Distinctly different in inner shell electron SWNTs. energy loss spectrum

(4)Density

shows features at 285 and 291 eV, due to 1s * and 1s * resonances. These are similar to graphite in MWNTs 1.8 g/cm3

0.8

g/cm3

7.What are the unique properties of nanotubes and how would one study those? Ans: A carbon nanotube is produced by curling a graphene sheet. (1)Electronic Properties: Nanotubes can have distinctly different electronic properties depending on the chirality. Early calculations predicted that they can be semiconducting or metallic depending on the type of structure. While armchair tubes are always metallic, others can be semiconducting or metallic. The presence of defects on the body of the tube can alter the electronic structure and can make regions of specific electronic properties, such as metallic and semiconducting. CNTs exhibit plasmon features at 7 and 25 eV, nanotubes also show features in the range of 1016 eV. This is attributed to the low dimensionality of the tubes and also to the dimensional cross-over from one to three dimensions. Raman scattering is found to be highly diameter-dependent. There are specific vibrations in the 1001600 cm1 region which are strongly diameter dependent. (2) Transport properties: The band gaps of the nanotubes vary from 0.2 to 1.2 eV.The gap varies along the tube body and reaches a minimum value at the tube ends. This is due to the presence of localized defects at the ends due to the extra states. The conductive behaviour of MWNTs was consistent with the weak two-dimensional localization of the carriers. The inelastic scattering of carriers from lattice defects is more significant than carriercarrier or carrierphonon scattering. In

SWNTs, conduction occurs through discrete electronic states that are coherent between the electrical contacts. (3)Mechanical Properties: Nanotubes are the ultimate high strength carbon fibres. The value of Youngs modulus is 1.8 TPa. withstand extreme strain in tension (up to 40 per cent). The tubes can recover from severe structural distortions. The resilience of a graphite sheet is manifested in this property, which is due to the ability of carbon atoms to rehybridize. Any distortion of a tube will change the bonding of the nearby carbon atoms and in order to come back to the planar structure, the atoms have to reverse to sp2 hybridization. If the tube is subjected to elastic stretching beyond a limit, some bonds are broken. The defect is then redistributed along the tube surface. (4) Physical properties: Nanotubes have a high strength-to-weight ratio (density of 1.8 g/cm3 for MWNTs and 0.8 g/cm3 for SWNTs). Nanotubes are highly resistant to chemical attack. It is difficult to oxidize them and the onset of oxidation in nanotubes is 100C higher than that of carbon fibres. The surface area of nanotubes is of the order of 1020 m2/g. Nanotubes have a high thermal conductivity and the value increases with decrease in diameter. 8. Can one extend the knowledge of the chemistry of fullerenes into carbon nanotubes? What are such properties? Ans.: (a) The synthesis procedures are similar. (b) Nanotubes are mostly found with closed ends on either side, though open tubes are also seen. Thus these are three-dimensional closed-cage objects, and may be considered as elongated fullerenes. The hexagons make the elongated body of the tube and the ends contain both hexagons and pentagons, with a minimum of six pentagons on each face. That is like in the case of fullerenes, CNTs are also composed of hexagons and pentagons. Such properties are (i) Filling properties

(ii) Structural properties 10. From the everyday examples of macroscopic objects similar to tubes, such as iron pipes, suggest a few properties of nanotubes which could be investigated. Ans.: Comparing nanotubes with Iron pipes or other such macroscopic objects of everyday use, the following properties maybe studied:(1) Hardness (2) Tensile strength (3) Elasticity