Elastic properties of single-wall nanotubes

3 , BC₂N, and C₃N₄. These studies have been carried out using a total-energy, non-orthogonal, tight-binding parametrisation which is shown to provide results in good agreement both with calculations using higher levels of theory and the available experimental data. Our results predict that of all types of nanotubes considered, carbon nanotubes have the highest Young’s modulus. We have considered tubes of different diameters, ranging from 0.5 to 2 nm, and find that in the limit of large diameters the mechanical properties of nanotubes approach those of the corresponding flat graphene-like sheets. Received: 30 November 1998 / Accepted: 14 December 1998