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Hedman D, McLean B, Bichara C, Maruyama S, Larsson JA, Ding F. Dynamics of growing carbon nanotube interfaces probed by machine learning-enabled molecular simulations. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4076. [PMID: 38744824 PMCID: PMC11094095 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47999-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), hollow cylinders of carbon, hold great promise for advanced technologies, provided their structure remains uniform throughout their length. Their growth takes place at high temperatures across a tube-catalyst interface. Structural defects formed during growth alter CNT properties. These defects are believed to form and heal at the tube-catalyst interface but an understanding of these mechanisms at the atomic-level is lacking. Here we present DeepCNT-22, a machine learning force field (MLFF) to drive molecular dynamics simulations through which we unveil the mechanisms of CNT formation, from nucleation to growth including defect formation and healing. We find the tube-catalyst interface to be highly dynamic, with large fluctuations in the chiral structure of the CNT-edge. This does not support continuous spiral growth as a general mechanism, instead, at these growth conditions, the growing tube edge exhibits significant configurational entropy. We demonstrate that defects form stochastically at the tube-catalyst interface, but under low growth rates and high temperatures, these heal before becoming incorporated in the tube wall, allowing CNTs to grow defect-free to seemingly unlimited lengths. These insights, not readily available through experiments, demonstrate the remarkable power of MLFF-driven simulations and fill long-standing gaps in our understanding of CNT growth mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Hedman
- Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
| | - Ben McLean
- Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Victoria, 3001, Australia
| | | | - Shigeo Maruyama
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
| | - J Andreas Larsson
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, 971 87, Sweden.
| | - Feng Ding
- Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea.
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Technology for Carbon Neutrality, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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McLean B, Eveleens CA, Mitchell I, Webber GB, Page AJ. Catalytic CVD synthesis of boron nitride and carbon nanomaterials - synergies between experiment and theory. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 19:26466-26494. [PMID: 28849841 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp03835f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Low-dimensional carbon and boron nitride nanomaterials - hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, boron nitride nanotubes and carbon nanotubes - remain at the forefront of advanced materials research. Catalytic chemical vapour deposition has become an invaluable technique for reliably and cost-effectively synthesising these materials. In this review, we will emphasise how a synergy between experimental and theoretical methods has enhanced the understanding and optimisation of this synthetic technique. This review examines recent advances in the application of CVD to synthesising boron nitride and carbon nanomaterials and highlights where, in many cases, molecular simulations and quantum chemistry have provided key insights complementary to experimental investigation. This synergy is particularly prominent in the field of carbon nanotube and graphene CVD synthesis, and we propose here it will be the key to future advances in optimisation of CVD synthesis of boron nitride nanomaterials, boron nitride - carbon composite materials, and other nanomaterials generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben McLean
- School of Environmental & Life Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia.
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