GROWTH ENERGETICS OF CARBON NANOTUBES

The growth energetics of carbon nanotubes during are discharge conditi ons are investigated. Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations show t hat the electric field alone cannot stabilize the growth of open metal lic tubes. The addition of atoms and small clusters to tubes were stud ied using realistic atomic potentials. Deposition on tubes narrower th an similar to 3 nm leads to nucleation of curved defects (adjacent pen tagon pairs) and eventual tube closure, while deposition on wider tube s favors the formation of hexagons and isolated pentagons, thereby pro moting open-ended growth.