Families of carbon nanotubes: Graphyne-based nanotubes

New families of carbon single-walled nanotubes are proposed and their electronic structures are investigated. These nanotubes, called graphynes, result from the elongation of covalent interconnections of graphite-based nanotubes by the introduction of yne groups. Analogously to ordinary nanotubes, armchair, zigzag, and chiral graphyne nanotubes are possible. We here predict the electronic properties of these unusual nanotubes using tight-binding and ab initio density functional methods. Of the three graphyne nanotube families analyzed here, two provide metallic behavior for armchair tubes and either metallic or semiconducting behavior for zigzag nanotubes. A diameter- and chirality-independent band gap is predicted for the other investigated graphyne family, as well as an oscillatory dependence of the effective mass on nanotube diameter.