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Updated: May 3, 2026

Fabrication, Densification, and Replica Molding of 3D Carbon Nanotube Microstructures
Published on: July 2, 2012
Theory of carbon nanocones: mechanical chiral inversion of a micron-scale three-dimensional object
Stephen P Jordan1, Vincent H Crespi
1Department of Physics and Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-6300, USA.
Abstract:
Graphene cones have two degenerate configurations: their original shape and its inverse. When the apex is depressed by an external probe, the simulated mechanical response is highly nonlinear, with a broad constant-force mode appearing after a short initial Hooke's law regime. For chiral cones, the final state is an atomically exact chiral invert of the original system. If the local reflection symmetry of the graphene sheet is broken by the chemisorption of just five hydrogen atoms to the apex, then the maximal yield strength of the cone increases by approximately 40%. The high symmetry of the conical geometry can concentrate micron-scale mechanical work with atomic precision, providing a way to activate specific chemical bonds.
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