Controlling reversible elastic deformation of carbon nanotube rings

J Am Chem Soc. 2011 Jun 29;133(25):9654-7. doi: 10.1021/ja2022976. Epub 2011 Jun 7.

Abstract

We show that bundles of carbon nanotubes can be coiled into ring structures by controlling the contraction of their polymer shells. With the robust carbon nanotubes, we demonstrate their reversible transformation between circular and compressed rings in a colloid.