Nanotube mechanics – Recent progress in shell buckling mechanics and quantum electromechanical coupling

In this article, we present recent progress in selected areas of carbon nanotube mechanics. First, we present the authors’ experimental work on shell buckling mechanics of multi-walled carbon nanotubes using nanoindentation. A comparison with existing elastic theories showed that the shell theories under-predict the buckling loads by as much as 50%. We then present an investigation of electromechanical coupling in carbon nanotubes by focusing on phonon frequency shifts as a result of charge injection. Raman spectroscopic measurements of the electromechanical couplings under varied but controlled charge injection conditions are analyzed, and the close agreement between the model results and the measured Raman peak shifts suggests that geometrical changes of charged carbon nanotubes previously observed or speculated in different experiments can indeed originate from the simple quantum effects described herein.