Carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotube has been widely investigated and perceived as having great potential in nanomechanical and nanoelectronic devices due to uniqe combination of mechanical, electrical and chemical properties. The carbon nanotubes may be applied (a) as light-weight structural materials with extraordinary mechanical properties such as stiffness and strength; (b) in nano-electronic components as the next-generation of semi-conductors and nanowires; (c) as probes in scanning probe microscopy and atomic force microscopy with the added advantage of a chemically-functionalized tip; (d) as high-sensitivity microbalances; (e) as gas and molecule sensors; (f) in hydrogen storage devices thanks to its high surface-volume ratio; (g) as field-emission type displays; (h) as electrodes in organic light-emitting diodes and (i) as tiny tweezers for nanoscale manipulation, to name a few.

As a postdoc in Xi Chen's group, my current research in the mechanics of carbon nanotubes concentrates in the following areas: a) thermal vibration and application as strain/mass/specie sensors; b) buckling of nanotubes caused by compression, bending, torsion, and indentation; c) mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes in axial and radial directions, and effective continuum modeling; d) fluid conduction in nanotubes. I have published 14 journal papers since 2005 in these areas. I will introduce more details in my blog later.