Lower limit for single-wall carbon nanotube diameters from hydrocarbons and fullerenes

A theoretical model for the growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes produced by metal-catalyzed decomposition of hydrocarbons and fullerenes is presented. The growth process is treated as a thermodynamic equilibrium between carbon in the gas phase and carbon in the nanotube. The minimum possible nanotube diameters based on several published experimental conditions are calculated by combining the free energy of the reaction with an equation derived from elastic theory. The model predicts the possibility of generating nanotubes with extremely small diameters that are smaller than in the corresponding experiments. Received: 18 July 2001 / Accepted: 19 November 2001 / Published online: 4 March 2002