Properties of novel fullerene tubule structures: a computational study

Theoretical Young's moduli have been estimated for several fullerene carbon tubule fibers along the tubule axis. These results indicate that carbon fibers composed of nested tubules could have a modulus nearly 1.4 times that of a conventional graphite whisker. The results also indicate that the modulus of the tubule fiber can be further increased by decreasing the distance between the close-packed tubules in the fiber. This is true for both nested and single-shell tubules, but is only significant for the latter. Taking advantage of this property of single-shell tubules, we have examined a hypothetical tubule-diamond composite that, if it could be produced, would yield a modulus greater than diamond while at the same time stabilizing the fiber against shear distortions.