Polar Metallocenes

Crystalline polar metallocenes are potentially useful active materials as piezoelectrics, ferroelectrics, and multiferroics. Within density functional theory (DFT), we computed structural properties, energy differences for various phases, molecular configurations, and magnetic states, computed polarizations for different polar crystal structures, and computed dipole moments for the constituent molecules with a Wannier function analysis. Of the systems studied, Mn₂(C₉H₉N)₂ is the most promising as a multiferroic material, since the ground state is both polar and ferromagnetic. We found that the predicted crystalline polarizations are 30–40% higher than the values that would be obtained from the dipole moments of the isolated constituent molecules, due to the local effects of the self-consistent internal electric field, indicating high polarizabilities.

Radial Corrugations of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Driven by Inter-Wall Nonbonding Interactions

We perform large-scale quasi-continuum simulations to determine the stable cross-sectional configurations of free-standing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). We show that at an inter-wall spacing larger than the equilibrium distance set by the inter-wall van der Waals (vdW) interactions, the initial circular cross-sections of the MWCNTs are transformed into symmetric polygonal shapes or asymmetric water-drop-like shapes. Our simulations also show that removing several innermost walls causes even more drastic cross-sectional polygonization of the MWCNTs. The predicted cross-sectional configurations agree with prior experimental observations. We attribute the radial corrugations to the compressive stresses induced by the excessive inter-wall vdW energy release of the MWCNTs. The stable cross-sectional configurations provide fundamental guidance to the design of single MWCNT-based devices and shed lights on the mechanical control of electrical properties.