Design of aligned carbon nanotubes structures using structural mechanics modeling Part 2: Aligned carbon nanotubes structure modeling

The aligned carbon nanotube (A-CNT) structure is composed of arrays of individual CNTs grown vertically on a flat substrate. The overall structure and properties of an A-CNTs are highly dependent upon the designs of various architectures and geometric parameters. In Part 2, we have presented the detailed designs and modeling of various aligned carbon nanotube structures. It is found the A-CNT structures generally have much lower modulus than an individual CNT. The reason is due to the high porosity and low density of the A-CNT structures, since the interstitial space between nanotubes is mostly occupied by air. Increasing the nanotube array density is seen to have significantly improved the modulus of ACNT structures. The mechanical property of the A-CNT structure can be affected by the individual nanotube atomic structure, but only at small wall thickness. As a material, the elastic modulus of the A-CNT is not affected by the size (height) of testing specimen.