Fabrication of Carbon Nanoscrolls from Monolayer Graphene

TLDR

It is expected that this preparation method of CNT/GN nanoscroll core/shell composites will lead to further development of a broad new class of carbon/carbon core/shell composites with enhanced properties and even introduce new functionalities to composite materials. The study demonstrates a simple method for synthesizing CNT/graphene nanoscroll core/shell nanostructures via molecular dynamics simulations. Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to model the self‑scrolling of graphene sheets onto carbon nanotubes, forming core/shell structures. The simulations reveal that graphene sheets fully self‑scroll onto carbon nanotubes with radii above ~10 Å, producing stable core/shell structures whose multilayered shells resemble multiwall CNTs, with interlayer spacing of ~3.4 Å, driven mainly by van der Waals forces and independent of CNT or graphene chirality.

Abstract

Abstract A simple way of synthesizing carbon nanotube (CNT)/graphene (GN) nanoscroll core/shell nanostructures is demonstrated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulations show that GN sheets can fully self‐scroll onto CNTs when the CNT radius is larger than a threshold of about 10 Å, forming a stable core/shell structure. Increasing the length of the GN sheet results in multilayered carbon nanoscroll (CNS) shells that exhibit a tubular structure similar to that of multiwall CNTs. The distances between the CNT and the GN wall or adjacent GN walls are about 3.4 Å. It is found that the van der Waals force plays an important role in the formation of the CNT/GN nanoscroll core/shell‐composite nanostructures. However, the chirality of the CNT and the GN sheet does not affect the self‐scrolling process, which thus provides a simple way of controlling the chirality and physical properties of the resulting core/shell structure. It is expected that this preparation method of CNT/GN nanoscroll core/shell composites will lead to further development of a broad new class of carbon/carbon core/shell composites with enhanced properties and even introduce new functionalities to composite materials.