Narrow Results

Simulations of single-wall carbon nanotube(SWCNT)s having a different chiral vector under axial compression were carried out based on molecular dynamics to investigate the effect of the helicity on the buckling behavior. Calculation was performed at room temperature for (8,8) armchair, (14,0) zigzag and (6,10) chiral single-wall carbon nanotubes. The Tersoff potential was used as the interatomic potential since it describes the C-C bonds in carbon nanotubes reliably. A conjugate gradient (CG) method was used to obtain the equilibrium configuration. Compressive force was applied at the top of a nanotube by moving the top-most atoms downward with the constant velocity of 10m/s. The buckling load, the critical strain, and the Young's modulus were calculated from the result of MD simulation. A zigzag carbon nanotube has the largest Young's modulus and buckling load, while a chiral carbon nonotube has the lowest values.

A metallic (semiconducting) single-wall nanotube contains an irrational (integral) number of carbon hexagons in the pitch. The room-temperature conductivity is higher by two to three orders of magnitude in metallic nanotubes than in semiconducting nanotubes. Tans et al. [Nature386 (1997) 474] measured the electrical currents in metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes under bias and gate voltages, and observed non-Ohmic behaviors. The original authors interpreted their data in terms of a ballistic transport due to the Coulomb blockage on the electron-carrier model. The mystery of why a ballistic electron is not scattered by impurities and phonons is unexplained, however. An alternate interpretation is presented based on the Cooper pair (pairon)–carrier model. Superconducting states are generated by the Bose–Einstein condensation of the ± pairons at momenta 2πℏn/L, where L is the tube length and n a small integer. As the gate voltage changes the charging state of the tube, the superconducting states jump between different n. The normal current peak shapes appearing in the transition are found to be temperature-dependent, which is caused by the electron–optical phonon scattering.

Competitive ability of helical and two-dimensional models of generation of large-scale atmospheric hazardous events is discussed, and the conclusion is made that the helical model deserves more attention than it currently has in the world literature. A number of mechanisms of nonlinear stabilization of helical vortex instability are considered which are possible under different conditions. Intermittent nature of large-scale velocity field generated by such instability, and possibility of development of helical wave-turbulent instability are analyzed. The example of application of helical vortex instability for explanation of some phenomena observed after collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet fragments with Jupiter in July 1994 is presented.

Poly(phenylacetylene)s bearing monosaccharide pendant groups are synthesized in high yields by [Rh(nbd)Cl]₂ catalyst. The polymers have high molecular weights and give satisfactory spectroscopic data corresponding to their molecular structures. They are thermally quite stable (≥ 300°C) and show strong circular dichroism signals in the visible spectral region owing to the helicity of the polyene backbone. The monosaccharide-containing polyacetylenes are cytophilic and can stimulate the growth of living cells.

Creation of novel $\pi$-conjugated molecules is an important research topic. I describe in this account an approach to this aim that is based on the use of the distorted conformation of porphyrins. Planarization of distorted molecules enables the synthesis of heteroatom-containing porphyrin derivatives. Furthermore, dearomatization reaction proves effective to construct distorted conformations from planar $\pi$-conjugated molecules under mild reaction conditions. According to this protocol, we have succeeded in the synthesis of heteroatom-containing curved-$\pi$ conjugated molecules that had never been achieved by conventional protocols. In particular, a nitrogen-embedded buckybowl is the first example of a buckybowl having a heteroatom in its central position, which exhibits unique properties due to the incorporation of the heteroatom in its curved $\pi$-surface.