Structure of endohedral complexes of carbon nanotubes encapsulated with lithium and sodium

The article provides the results of ab initio calculations employing density functional theory of carbon nanotubes that contain clusters of lithium and sodium atoms. Stable positions of interstitial atoms, the electron density distribution in the system and the density of electronic states are determined. It is shown that the amount of charge transferred from the interstitial atoms in a cluster significantly differs from the corresponding value for a single atom. It is established that the density of electronic states of the system at low concentrations of atoms of the introduced element is determined by the electronic structure of a hollow nanotube, and as the concentration of interstitial atoms increases, this quantity becomes virtually independent on the type of alkali metal (lithium or sodium) and the initial type of the nanotube conductivity.