Falvo M R, Clary G J, Taylor R M, Chi V, Brooks F P, Washburn S, Superfine R
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
Nature. 1997 Oct 9;389(6651):582-4. doi: 10.1038/39282.
The curling of a graphitic sheet to form carbon nanotubes produces a class of materials that seem to have extraordinary electrical and mechanical properties. In particular, the high elastic modulus of the graphite sheets means that the nanotubes might be stiffer and stronger than any other known material, with beneficial consequences for their application in composite bulk materials and as individual elements of nanometre-scale devices and sensors. The mechanical properties are predicted to be sensitive to details of their structure and to the presence of defects, which means that measurements on individual nanotubes are essential to establish these properties. Here we show that multiwalled carbon nanotubes can be bent repeatedly through large angles using the tip of an atomic force microscope, without undergoing catastrophic failure. We observe a range of responses to this high-strain deformation, which together suggest that nanotubes are remarkably flexible and resilient.
石墨片卷曲形成碳纳米管会产生一类似乎具有非凡电学和力学性能的材料。特别是，石墨片的高弹性模量意味着纳米管可能比任何其他已知材料更硬更强，这对它们在复合块状材料中以及作为纳米级器件和传感器的单个元件的应用具有有益的影响。据预测，其力学性能对结构细节和缺陷的存在很敏感，这意味着对单个纳米管进行测量对于确定这些性能至关重要。在这里，我们展示了使用原子力显微镜的尖端可以将多壁碳纳米管反复弯曲成大角度，而不会发生灾难性故障。我们观察到了对这种高应变变形的一系列响应，这些响应共同表明纳米管具有非凡的柔韧性和弹性。
