Toroidal forms of graphitic carbon. II. Elongated tori

A Review of Geometry, Construction and Modelling for Carbon Nanotori

After the discovery of circular formations of single walled carbon nanotubes called fullerene crop circles, their structure has become one of the most researched amongst carbon nanostructures due to their particular interesting physical properties. Several experiments and simulations have been conducted to understand these intriguing objects, including their formation and their hidden characteristics. It is scientifically conceivable that these crop circles, nowadays referred to as carbon nanotori, can be formed by experimentally bending carbon nanotubes into ring shaped structures or by connecting several sections of carbon nanotubes. Toroidal carbon nanotubes are likely to have many applications, especially in electricity and magnetism. In this review, geometry, construction, modelling and possible applications are discussed and the existing known analytical expressions, as obtained from the Lennard-Jones potential and the continuum approximation, for their interaction energies with other nanostructures are summarised.

An Overview of the Recent Progress in the Synthesis and Applications of Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known as nano-architectured allotropes of carbon, having graphene sheets that are wrapped forming a cylindrical shape. Rolling of graphene sheets in different ways makes CNTs either metals or narrow-band semiconductors. Over the years, researchers have devoted much attention to understanding the intriguing properties CNTs. They exhibit some unusual properties like a high degree of stiffness, a large length-to-diameter ratio, and exceptional resilience, and for this reason, they are used in a variety of applications. These properties can be manipulated by controlling the diameter, chirality, wall nature, and length of CNTs which are in turn, synthesis procedure-dependent. In this review article, various synthesis methods for the production of CNTs are thoroughly elaborated. Several characterization methods are also described in the paper. The applications of CNTs in various technologically important fields are discussed in detail. Finally, future prospects of CNTs are outlined in view of their commercial applications.

Synthesis Methods of Carbon Nanotubes and Related Materials

The challenge on carbon nanotubes is still the subject of many research groups. While in the first years the focus was on the new synthesis methods, new carbon sources and support materials, recently, the application possibilities are the principal arguments of the studies. The three main synthesis methods discussed in this review are the arc discharge, the laser ablation and the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) with a special regard to the latter one. In the early stage of the nanotube production the first two methods were utilized mainly for the production of SWNTs while the third one produced mainly MWNTs. The principle of CVD is the decomposition of various hydrocarbons over transition metal supported catalyst. Single-walled (SWNT), multi-walled (MWNT) and coiled carbon nanotubes are produced. In some case, interesting carbonaceous materials are formed during the synthesis process, such as bamboo-like tubes, onions, horn-like structures. In this paper, we refer to the progresses made in the field of the synthesis techniques of carbon nanotubes in the last decade.

A Review of the Properties and CVD Synthesis of Coiled Carbon Nanotubes

The CVD route for carbon nanotube production has become a popular method to make large amounts of multiwall carbon nanotubes. The structure, morphology and size of carbon materials depend critically on the catalyst preparation and deposition conditions. According to current knowledge, CVD method is the only process which can produce carbon nanocoils. These nanocoils are perfect candidates for nanotechnology applications. One might indeed hope that these coils would have the extraordinary stiffness displayed by straight nanotubes. Based on theoretical studies, regular coiled nanotubes exhibit exceptional mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties due to the combination of their peculiar helical morphology and the fascinating properties of nanotubes. In spite of its technological interest, relatively low attention has been paid to this special field. In this paper we attempt to summarize results obtained until now.

Defective ground states of toroidal crystals

Crystalline assemblages of identical subunits packed together and elastically bent in the form of a torus have been found in the past ten years in a variety of systems of surprisingly different nature, such as viral capsids, self-assembled monolayers, and carbon nanomaterials. In this Rapid Communication we analyze the structural properties of toroidal crystals and provide a unified description based on the elastic theory of defects in curved geometries. We find ground states characterized by the presence of fivefold disclinations on the exterior of the torus and sevenfold disclinations in the interior. The number of excess disclinations is controlled primarily by the aspect ratio of the torus, suggesting a mechanism for creating toroidal templates with precisely controlled valency via functionalization of the defect sites.

Entanglement and the nonlinear elastic behavior of forests of coiled carbon nanotubes

Helical or coiled nanostructures have been objects of intense experimental and theoretical studies due to their special electronic and mechanical properties. Recently, it was experimentally reported that the dynamical response of a foamlike forest of coiled carbon nanotubes under mechanical impact exhibits a nonlinear, non-Hertzian behavior, with no trace of plastic deformation. The physical origin of this unusual behavior is not yet fully understood. In this Letter, based on analytical models, we show that the entanglement among neighboring coils in the superior part of the forest surface must be taken into account for a full description of the strongly nonlinear behavior of the impact response of a drop ball onto a forest of coiled carbon nanotubes.