A theoretical method was developed for obtaining a single-walled carbon nanotube having a high density of topological defects. Carbon nanotubes sustain elastic elongation up to 15-30% at low temperature because of the sufficiently high barrier of bond rotations. A large number of topological defects were activated simultaneously and widely distributed over the entire tube wall after heating the stretched tube to an elevated temperature. This was driven by the internal energy of the strained carbon nanotubes. The manner in which topological defects were distributed was affected by the initial strain and the heating temperature. Nanotubes with a large number of topological defects achieve the elongation without breaking.

A Stretched Carbon Nanotube with a High-Density of Topological Defects. F.Y.Meng, G.S.Wang, S.Q.Shi, S.Ogata: Advanced Materials Research, 2011, 236-238, 2225-8