Coaxial nanocable: Carbon nanotube core sheathed with boron nitride nanotube

A coaxial nanocable model consisting of conductive carbon nanotube core and boron nitride nanotube sheath is proposed by ab initio calculations. The conduction electron density is mainly concentrated on the inner carbon shell at the optimal interwall distance about 0.35 nm. The conductivity of the core carbon nanotube and the insulation of the boron nitride nanotube sheath are found to be rather tolerant to mechanical deformation. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.