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The sp2 hybridized carbon allotropes such as fullerenes and graphene are scientifically and technologically significant because of their unique elastic and electronic properties. These properties make them useful in a wide variety of applications. Recently, experimentalists have synthesized sp-sp2 hybridized carbon tubular arrays of two-dimensional carbon films, referred to as graphdiyne. To explore the possible existence of an sp-sp2 hybridized one-dimensional carbon allotrope, we investigate graphdiyne nanotubes' structural and electronic properties using dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations. Graphdiyne nanotubes display unique porous characteristics and remarkable stability, which may promote them as a novel class of carbon materials.
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This content will become publicly available on February 14, 2026
Mapping the structural–mechanical landscape of amorphous carbon with ReaxFF molecular dynamics
We use ReaxFF molecular dynamics (MD) to investigate the relationship between structural and mechanical properties in bulk and nanostructured amorphous carbon (a-C). The liquid-quench MD method is used to generate isotropic bulk samples with mass densities ranging from 0.96 to 3.29 g/cm3. Structural analysis identifies two types of structures with distinct short- and medium-range order: lower-density sp2-dominated a-C, which is characterized by a bimodal ring-size distribution, and higher-density sp3-dominated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C), exhibiting a unimodal ring-size distribution. Stress–strain MD simulations and analysis reveal how an atomistic structure impacts elastic properties and post-yield atomic rearrangements. All stretched structures demonstrate elastic isotropy and plasticity driven by a ring-size expansion mechanism reflected in changes in ring statistics. The plastic region is substantially larger in ta-C than in a-C due to the post-yield shift from sp3 to sp2 C dominant bonding. In both a-C and ta-C, ultimate failure occurs when a reactive crack, traversed by long sp chains, forms and propagates predominantly perpendicular to the direction of the applied strain. Oxygen infiltration into the fractured region significantly reduces stress resistance, primarily through the early rupture of long sp chains. MD simulations and analysis are extended to a-C slabs, a-C nanotubes, and partially a-C nanotubes. The latter nanostructure highlights the differences between the elastically isotropic a-C walls, which develop circumferential cracking, and the crystalline walls, which tear along crystallographic directions. These results provide a strong foundation for further computational characterization of a-C materials.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2039351
- PAR ID:
- 10584901
- Publisher / Repository:
- AIP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Volume:
- 137
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0021-8979
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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