Molecular dynamics study of the destruction of single-walled carbon nanotubes under tension

Abstract

The deformation and destruction of single-walled open carbon nanotubes are investigated in the framework of the molecular dynamics model of charges localized at bonds, which takes into account the atomic (ionic) and electronic degrees of freedom. This approach allows one to study excited electronic states induced by electronic transitions and to investigate both the ionic and electronic subsystems simultaneously. The structural transformations of nanotubes with (10, 2) chirality under tension are investigated, and the tensile stress-strain diagrams of these nanotubes in the temperature range 100–1000 K are calculated. It is established that, at low and moderate temperatures, the destruction of the nanotubes has a similar nature: the interatomic covalent bonds are broken in the normal cross section of the nanotube. At high temperatures, the nanotube undergoes a scission along the stretching axis.