Abstract
In this paper, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to study the fracture characteristics of a graphene nanoribbon encapsulated in a single-walled carbon nanotube (GNR@SWCNT) subjected to a uniaxial tensile loading. The effects of size and temperature on the fracture strength of nanocomposites under different strains were examined. The fracture strength and fracture strain of the nanocomposites increase with decreasing nanotube diameter. The maximum fracture strength and the corresponding fracture strain of GNR@SWCNT with a (10, 10) nanotube at 300 K were 126.3 GPa and 0.36, respectively. However, the fracture strength and fracture strain decrease with increasing temperature. The simulation results are useful in the design of nanodevices composed of carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ebbesen, T.W. (ed.): Carbon Nanotubes Preparation and Properties. CRC Press, New York (1997)
Dirote, E.V. (ed.): Trends in Nanotechnology Research. Nova Science Publishers, New York (2004)
Ottenhouse, A.P. (ed.): Carbon Nanotubes New Research. Nova Science Publishers, New York (2009)
CNR, Rao, Sood, A.K. (eds.): Graphene: Synthesis, Properties, and Phenomena. Wiley, Hoboken (2013)
Chuvilin, A., Bichoutskaia, E., Gimenez-Lopez, M.C., Chamberlain, T.W., Rance, G.A., Kuganathan, N., Biskupek, J., Kaiser, U., Khlobystov, A.N.: Self-assembly of a sulphur-terminated graphene nanoribbon within a single-walled carbon nanotube. Nat. Mater. 10, 687–692 (2011)
Kou, L., Tang, C., Frauenheim, T., Chen, C.: Intrinsic charge separation and tunable electronic band gap of armchair graphene nanoribbons encapsulated in a double-walled carbon nanotube. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 4, 1328–1333 (2013)
Krasnenko, V., Boltrushko, V., Klopov, M., Hizhnyakov, V.: Conjoined structures of carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons. Phys. Scr. 89, 044008 (2014)
Wang, L., Zhang, H.W., Zhang, Z.Q., Zheng, Y.G., Wang, J.B.: Buckling behaviors of single-walled carbon nanotubes filled with metal atoms. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 051122 (2007)
Guo, S.H., Zhu, B.E., Ou, X.D., Pan, Z.Y., Wang, Y.X.: Deformation of gold-filled single-walled carbon nanotubes under axial compression. Carbon 48, 4129–4135 (2010)
Wu, C.D., Fang, T.H., Chan, C.Y.: A molecular dynamics simulation of the mechanical characteristics of a C\(_{60}\)-filled carbon nanotube under nanoindentation using various carbon nanotube tips. Carbon 49, 2053–2061 (2011)
Wu, J., Zhang, K.W., Peng, X.Y., Li, S.M., Sun, L.Z., Zhong, J.X.: A molecular dynamics study of the Si-nanowire@carbon-nanotube nanocomposite with sp\(^{3}\) interfacial bonding. Comput. Mat. Sci. 79, 650–655 (2013)
Talyzin, A.V., Anoshkin, I.V., Krasheninnikov, A.V., Nieminen, R.M., Nasibulin, A.G., Jiang, H., Kauppinen, E.I.: Synthesis of graphene nanoribbons encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nano Lett. 11, 4352–4356 (2011)
Lebedeva, I.V., Popov, A.M., Knizhnik, A.A., Khlobystov, A.N., Potapkin, B.V.: Chiral graphene nanoribbon inside a carbon nanotube: ab initio study. Nanoscale 4, 4522–4529 (2012)
Mandal, B., Sarkar, S., Sarkar, P.: Energetics and electronic structure of encapsulated graphene nanoribbons in carbon nanotube. J. Phys. Chem. A 117, 8568–8575 (2013)
Chernov, A.I., Fedotov, P.V., Talyzin, A.V., Lopez, I.S., Anoshkin, I.V., Nasibulin, A.G., Kauppinen, E.I., Obraztsova, E.D.: Optical properties of graphene nanoribbons encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes. ACS Nano 7, 6346–6353 (2013)
Yin, Q., Shi, X.: Energy barrier for configurational transformation of graphene nanoribbon on nanotube. Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett. 4, 041010 (2014)
Fang, T.H., Chang, W.J., Feng, Y.L.: Mechanical characteristics of graphene nanoribbons encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes using molecular dynamics simulations. Appl. Surf. Sci. 356, 221–225 (2015)
Haile, J.M.: Molecular Dynamics Simulation: Elementary Methods. Wiley, New York (1992)
Tersoff, J.: New empirical model for the structural properties of silicon. Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 632 (1986)
Tersoff, J.: New empirical approach for the structure and energy of covalent systems. Phys. Rev. B 37, 6991 (1988)
Tersoff, J., Ruoff, R.S.: Structural properties of a carbon-nanotube crystal. Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 676 (1994)
Fang, T.H., Chang, W.J., Yang, J.C.: Temperature effect on mechanical properties of graphene sheets under tensile loading. Dig. J. Nanomater. Biostruct. 7, 1811–1816 (2012)
Fang, T.H., Chang, W.J., Lin, K.P., Shen, S.T.: Stability and wrinkling of defective graphene sheets under shear deformation. Curr. Appl. Phys. 14, 533–537 (2014)
Lee, B.J., Lee, J.W.: A modified embedded atom method interatomic potential for carbon. Calphad 29, 7–16 (2005)
Smolyanitsky, A., Killgore, J.P., Tewary, V.K.: Effect of elastic deformation on frictional properties of few-layer graphene. Phys. Rev. B 85, 035412 (2012)
Owens, F.J.: Electronic and magnetic properties of graphene nanoribbons. Mol. Phys. 104, 3107–3109 (2006)
Sun, J., Liang, W.Z.: Effects of external field and nanoribbon length on the electronic structure and properties of graphene nanoribbons. Acta Phys. Chim. Sin. 30, 439–445 (2014)
Bets, K.V., Yakobson, B.I.: Spontaneous twist and intrinsic instabilities of pristine graphene nanoribbons. Nano Res. 2, 161–166 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fang, TH., Chang, WJ., Feng, YL. et al. Tensile fracture of graphene nanoribbons encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes. Acta Mech 227, 2961–2967 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00707-016-1669-3
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00707-016-1669-3