Oxygen-driven unzipping of graphitic materials

Optical microscope images of graphite oxide (GO) reveal the occurrence of fault lines resulting from the oxidative processes. The fault lines and cracks of GO are also responsible for their much smaller size compared with the starting graphite materials. We propose an unzipping mechanism to explain the formation of cracks on GO and cutting of carbon nanotubes in an oxidizing acid. GO unzipping is initiated by the strain generated by the cooperative alignment of epoxy groups on a carbon lattice. We employ two small GO platelets to show that through the binding of a new epoxy group or the hopping of a nearby existing epoxy group, the unzipping process can be continued during the oxidative process of graphite. The same epoxy group binding pattern is also likely to be present in an oxidized carbon nanotube and cause its breakup.     

Energetics of carbon nanotubes

We have investigated the energetics of carbon nanotubes. Calculations have been performed by using the empirical many-body potential energy function developed by Tersoff for carbon. Received: 30 March 1998 / Accepted: 28 July 1998     

Energetics of stochastic resonance

In this paper, we discuss the motion of a Brownian particle in a double-well potential driven by a periodic force in terms of energies delivered by the periodic and the noise forces and energy dissipated into the viscous environment. It is shown that, while the power delivered by the periodic force to the Brownian particle is controlled by the strength of the noise, the power delivered by the noise itself is independent of the amplitude and frequency of the periodic force. The implications of this result for the mechanism of stochastic resonance in an equilibrium system is that it is not energy from the noise force which enhances a small periodic force, but rather an increase of energy delivered by the periodic force, regulated by the strength of the noise. We further re-evaluate the frequency dependence of stochastic resonance in terms of energetic terms including efficiency.     

Geometric phases in graphitic cones

In this Letter we use a geometric approach to study geometric phases in graphitic cones. The spinor that describes the low energy states near the Fermi energy acquires a phase when transported around the apex of the cone, as found by a holonomy transformation. This topological result can be viewed as an analogue of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. The topological analysis is extended to a system with n cones, whose resulting configuration is described by an effective defect.     

Topological phases in graphitic cones

The electronic structure of graphitic cones exhibits distinctive topological features associated with the apical disclinations. Ahranov-Bohm magnetoconductance oscillations (period Phi(0)) are completely absent in rings fabricated from cones with a single pentagonal disclination. Close to the apex, the local density of states changes qualitatively, either developing a cusp which drops to zero at the Fermi energy, or forming a region of nonzero density across E(F), a local metallization of graphite.     

Energetics of the fission process

The mass asymmetry of fragments from nuclear fission of heavy nuclei is reviewed. While mass asymmetry is a common and well-known phenomenon for low-energy fission of the lighter actinides, more recent experiments have demonstrated that, for the heaviest actinides, the mass distribution switches to a symmetric one. On the other hand, it has been discovered that, though for fissioning nuclei with mass numbersA225 the mass distribution is basically symmetric, an asymmetric component is clearly to be identified for nuclei down to the Pb-region. In the absence of a generally accepted dynamical theory of fission, the above experimental findings are discussed in terms of static energy considerations. Triggered from the outset by the structure of the potential energy surface at the saddlepoint, the energy balance at the scission point between the available energy (Q-value) of the reaction and the Coulomb and deformation energy of the nascent fragments is shown to steer the characteristics of the fragment mass distributions.     

The curved feature of ultrasound-treated graphitic sheets

When examined under a high-resolution transmission microscope (HRTEM), highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG), after ultrasound treatment, is found to contain some bent graphitic sheets. These bent structures are ordered graphitic sheets, which have specific bend angles that are a multiple of 30° (from 30° to 180°). We speculate that the creation and variation of bend angles is a result of interplay between the conformation of sp³-like defects and the ultrasound wave impact. Received 8 September 2000 / Accepted: 6 November 2000 / Published online: 23 May 2001     

SPM bipolar pulsed nanostructuring of graphitic layers

Local ablation of graphitic layers by SPM probe was investigated. The gap between the tip and sample surface was varied. Mono and bipolar electric impulses were applied. Influence of various processing parameters on graphite ablation rates was investigated. Shallow craters and structures with halfwidth as low as 15 nm were produced. Electromechanical mechanism of graphite nanoablation is discussed.