Defect formation and hysteretic inter-tube displacement in multi-wall carbon nanotubes Original Research Article

Using first-principles calculations on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) we probe defect-related processes that bear on key properties. We find that self-interstitial (SI) ingression leads to bridges between the inner-most walls, minimizing carrier scattering in the outer-shells, but also possibly stabilizing radiation damage through vacancy-SI separation. The SI bridges amplify the corrugation, energy dissipation, and hysteresis under inter-wall displacement. They can thus be detrimental to MWCNT-based oscillators or actuators, or be exploited as nano-locks and heat nano-pumps.