Energy loss of carbon nanotube cantilevers for mechanical vibration

We have investigated the mechanical vibrations of nanotube cantilevers in terms of energy loss. The quality factors, Q, for the resonant vibrations of nanotubes synthesized by arc discharge and chemical vapor deposition are related to Young's modulus and diameters, which correspond to the defect density and the number of van der Waals (vdW) interlayer interactions. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that pinhole defects on the wall of a nanotube significantly degrade the Q factor, whereas the strength in a small strain region remains high, which is similar to the case of a perfect nanotube. Furthermore, the Q factor is affected by the presence of the vdW interlayer interactions.