Zipper Mechanism of Nanotube Fusion: Theory and Experiment

Abstract

The microscopic zipper mechanism to explain the fast fusion process of carbon naonotubes was discussed. The pathways were identified for two adjacent (5,5) nanotubes to merge into a (10,10) tube. The mechanism involves bond rotations to speed up the merging process in partially fused tubes. It was found that the zipper mechanism of fusion was supported by a time series of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations.