The roles of crosslinks in the buckling behaviors and load transferring mechanisms of double-walled nanotubes under compression

The buckling behaviors as well as the load transfer mechanisms between the shells of double-walled nanotubes (DWNTs) are investigated through a series of molecular dynamics simulations. When buckling occurs, the strain energy of cross-linked (defective) DWNTs undergoes a modest transition indicating that energy gathered in one shell is shared by the other through the inter-shell crosslinks. It is confirmed that the compressive stress applied to the outer shell can be efficiently transferred to the inner shell through the covalent bonds between shells resulting in a uniform load distribution. The existence of inter-shell crosslinks leads to dramatic decreases of the sustainable loads and modest decreases of the Young’s modulus. The computational studies imply that the crosslinks can improve the loading conditions and reduce strain energy in carbon nanotubes based nanocomposites and nanoelectromechanical systems.