Nanostressing and mechanochemistry

Experimental evidence supporting the heightened chemical reactivity of high ly conformationally strained carbon sites in multi-walled carbon nanotubes is reported. The strain is introduced by two methods, van der Waals attract ions to nonplanar surfaces and ultrasonic cavitation. Oxidative acid attack was observed in both cases, in the former by etching of the nanotubes' kin ked sites, and in the latter by peptide coupling to polystyrene spheres tha t are large enough to be visible by SEM imaging. A novel single-axis strain ing stage for nanometre-scale objects is also described.