Elastic Properties of Chiral Metallic Nanotubes Formed from Cubic Crystals

The study analyzes the elastic properties of chiral metallic nanotubes formed by rolling up thin crystal plates with the [011] and [111] orientations within two frameworks of anisotropic elasticity and molecular statics. Iron, copper and aluminum nanotubes are discussed. It is shown that the tubes have a positive Poisson's ratio in the entire range of chiral angles, unlike nanotubes obtained by rolling up crystal plates with the [010] orientation. Poynting's coefficient of nanotubes rolled up from plates with the [011] orientation becomes negative at certain chiral angles, which corresponds to a change in the twisting direction of the nanotubes under tension. The description of the dependence of the elastic properties of nanotubes on the chiral angle and thickness within anisotropic elasticity theory agrees qualitatively with the results of molecular statics simulations. The results for some chiral metallic nanotubes are quantitatively different.

Automated summary

The study explores the elastic properties of chiral metallic nanotubes rolled up from thin crystal plates with [011] and [111] orientations. It shows that the Poisson's ratio of nanotubes varies with the chiral angle and thickness, with some notable quantitative differences between different chiral metallic nanotubes. The findings are consistent with both anisotropic elasticity theory and molecular statics simulations.