Using molecular dynamics simulations, an anomalous vacancy-defect-induced enhancement of interwall load transfer in annealed carbon nanotubes was demonstrated. The large increase of load transfer mainly stems from the hybrid sp2-sp3 inter-wall bonds at the vacancy edges, which were stronger than the sp3 interwall bonds in pristine carbon nanotubes. This finding offers insights for better understanding and designing carbon nanotubes based high-performance nanocomposites.

Enhancing Interwall Load Transfer by Vacancy Defects in Carbon Nanotubes. D.S.Pietro, C.Tang, C.Chen: Applied Physics Letters, 2012, 100[3], 033118