The electrical conduction variation in stained carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes become stained from coupling with foreign molecules, especially from adsorbing gas molecules. The charge exchange, which is due to the orbital hybridization, occurred in the stained carbon nanotube induces electrical dipoles that consequently vary the electrical conduction of the nanotube. We propose a microscopic model to evaluate the electrical current variation produced by the induced electrical dipoles in a stained zigzag carbon nanotube. It is found that stronger orbital hybridization strengths and larger orbital energy differences between the carbon nanotube and the gas molecules help increasing the induced electrical dipole moment. Compared with the stain-free carbon nanotube, the induced electrical dipoles suppress the current in the nanotube. In the carbon nanotubes with induced dipoles the current increases as a result of increasing orbital energy dispersion via stronger hybridization couplings. In particular, at a fixed hybridization coupling, the current increases with the bond length for the donor-carbon nanotube but reversely for the acceptor-carbon nanotube. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.