Mechanics of filled carbon nanotubes

The benefits of filling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with assorted molecular and crystalline substances have been investigated for the past two decades. Amongst the study of new structural phases, defects, chemical reactions and varied types of host-guest interactions, there is one fundamental characterisation aspect of these systems that continues to be overlooked: the mechanical behaviour of filled CNTs. In contrast to their empty counterparts, the mechanics of filled CNTs is a subject where reports appear far and apart, this despite being key to the application of these materials in technological devices. In the following paragraphs, we review the work that has been carried out up to the present on the mechanics of filled CNTs. The studies discussed range from experimental resonant frequency essays performed within electron microscopes to modelling, via molecular dynamics, of three-point bending of nanotubes filled with gases. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.