Investigation of temperature effect on the mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes

A temperature-related higher-order gradient continuum theory is proposed for predicting the mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at various temperatures. It is found that the axial elastic moduli of zigzag (21, 0), armchair (12, 12) and chiral (15, 9) SWCNTs with similar radii approach 0.7 TPa when T = 0 K, but decline slightly on different slopes. These results indicate that the temperature effect influences the axial Young moduli of zigzag SWCNTs less than those of the other types. Moreover, the parameters k1 and k2 corresponding to the uniform longitudinal and circumferential stretches at different temperatures are also examined, and the results show that with an increasing temperature, all SWCNTs are stretched in the longitudinal direction, while in the circumferential direction, only the zigzag SWCNTs are stretched, whereas the others are compressed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.