title: Diameter-dependent bending dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes in liquids.
abstract: By relating nanotechnology to soft condensed matter, understanding the mechanics and dynamics of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in fluids is crucial for both fundamental and applied science. Here, we study the Brownian bending dynamics of individual chirality-assigned SWCNTs in water by fluorescence microscopy. The bending stiffness scales as the cube of the nanotube diameter and the shape relaxation times agree with the semiflexible chain model. This suggests that SWCNTs may be the archetypal semiflexible filaments, highly suited to act as nanoprobes in complex fluids or biological systems.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry, NanoCarbon Center, Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, and RE Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Nikta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fakhri
authors.forename: Dmitri A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Tsyboulski
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cognet
authors.forename: R Bruce
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasquali
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007700:Kinetics; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008956:Models, Chemical; D049329:Nanostructures; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D012212:Rheology; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D014867:Water; D002244:Carbon
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