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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Zipper mechanism of nanotube fusion: theory and experiment
Mina Yoon1, Seungwu Han, Gunn Kim
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-2320, USA.
Abstract:
We propose a new microscopic mechanism to explain the unusually fast fusion process of carbon nanotubes. We identify the detailed pathway for two adjacent (5,5) nanotubes to gradually merge into a (10,10) tube, and characterize the transition states. The propagation of the fused region is energetically favorable and proceeds in a morphology reminiscent of a Y junction via a zipper mechanism, involving only Stone-Wales bond rearrangements with low activation barriers. The zipper mechanism of fusion is supported by a time series of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations.
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