Evaluation of the effect of diameter of multi-walled carbon nanotube on the tensile strength using sonication-induced fragmentation

Ultrasonication is a simple way to cut carbon nanotubes in suspension. The length of fragmented carbon nanotubes is made shorter by iterating ultrasonication but approaches a critical aspect ratio. The critical aspect ratio is determined by the tensile strength of the carbon nanotube, the viscosity of the solvent, and physical properties of the cavitation bubbles produced by ultrasonication. Thus, it is possible to evaluate the tensile strength of carbon nanotubes from the critical aspect ratio. In this study, the tensile strengths of multi-walled carbon nanotubes with different diameters were evaluated using sonication-induced fragmentation. The results confirmed the strong dependency of tensile strength on diameter.