Modelling interwall interactions in carbon nanotubes: fundamentals and device applications

Carbon nanotubes are the most commonly used ,building blocks' of modern nanotechnology. Their unique mechanical and electronic properties, stability and functionality show great promise in creating functional devices on the nanometre scale. One of the great challenges in using this scale is the ability of physical manipulation of the components, such as their positioning and assembling. Strong correlation between the structure and mechanical interactions of the walls of carbon nanotubes provides self-regulation of their relative motion. This can be further exploited in low-friction and high-stiffness devices. In this paper, we present a condensed overview of the recent progress in fundamental understanding of nanomechanical and nanoelectromechanical behaviour of carbon nanotubes and their applications in nanodevices.