Rims of carbon nanotubes - influence of chirality

We study the possible configurations of the open ends (rims) of carbon nanotubes. There are many possible rim structures for a given chirality (n,m). The rim configuration depends to a large extend on the atomic species and shape of its host material. We develop formulas to derive the number of armchair and zigzag-type dangling bonds contained in a specific rim configuration. Armchair and zigzag-type dangling bonds form different barriers at the interface between a carbon nanotube and a host material. Reshaping the rim to a desired configuration allows to change the properties of the nanotube, e.g. transport barriers, which might be interesting for producing tailored NEMS or carbon nanotube based composites. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim