Affiliation: | aInstitute of Materials Science, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan bFullerene Engineering Group, Advanced Nano Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan |
Abstract: | Bending tests of crystalline nanotubes composed of fullerene C60 molecules are performed inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope. We fixed one side of a C60 nanotube with a body-centered tetragonal structure with typical inner and outer diameters, i.e., 180 nm and 510 nm, respectively, and then applied concentrated forces on the other side using piezomanipulation of a silicon nanotip. The bending process was observed in situ by transmission electron microscopy with simultaneous measurements of the forces by an optical deflection method. It was found that the Young’s modulus of the nanotube was estimated to be 62–107 GPa, which was 1.1–3.3 times larger than that of C60 nanowhiskers. The result concerning the increase in the Young’s modulus of the C60 nanotube provided an experimental evidence for the structural model composed of an inner core and a surface shell for C60 nanowhiskers. |