Experimental estimation of friction energy within a bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this work, we have experimentally determined normalized friction energy between single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) from tensile testing of SWCNT bundles using a simple scheme. The average normalized friction energy obtained is 0.22 Nm − 1 . This result is further verified by molecular mechanics simulation of single nanotube or a bundle of nanotubes pulled out from a nanotube bundle. This numerical value offers an important design parameter for mechanical applications of carbon nanotubes.