Nanorobotic Strategy for Nondestructive Mechanical Characterization of Carbon Nanotubes

The characterization of individual nanoscale objects such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is one of the main challenges in material science and nanotechnology. In this paper, we present a nanorobotic strategy allowing the nondestructive mechanical characterization of individual CNTs. A nanorobotic setup is developed to perform elastic deformations of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Characteristic force/displacement curves are measured and used to calculate the Young's modulus. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of the given CNTs show an additional conical layer of amorphous carbon enclosing the real multiwalled structure. Thus, different theoretical models are examined aiming to find the proper mechanical description of the analyzed CNTs. The experimental results show a significant influence of the outer carbon layer on the whole mechanical behavior of the MWCNTs.