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Symmetry of chiral nanotubes: Natural torsion and diffraction evidence
Author(s) -
Vuković Tatjana,
Lazić Nataša,
Milošević Ivanka,
Damnjanović Milan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201200100
Subject(s) - torsion (gastropod) , carbon nanotube , twist , materials science , chiral symmetry , diffraction , chirality (physics) , symmetry breaking , symmetry (geometry) , graphene , condensed matter physics , geometry , molecular physics , spontaneous symmetry breaking , nanotechnology , physics , explicit symmetry breaking , optics , quantum mechanics , mathematics , medicine , surgery , quark
Optimizations performed with geometrical, molecular mechanics, and density functional models show that chiral carbon nanotube configuration is slightly twisted with respect to the rolled‐up geometry. The torsion angle is small, <1° Å −1 for ultrathin tubes, and decreases with tube diameter. The effect can be explained through breaking of local symmetry of the equally distant neighbors in graphene, which is diminished by the torsion. Although, the twist is small, still, we single out features in diffraction patterns which can distinguish between twisted and non‐twisted configurations, at least for narrow single‐walled carbon nanotubes.