Small-diameter nanotubes are predicted to exhibit quantum size effects involving an interdependence between the diameter of the nanotubes and their electronic and magnetic properties. These authors ask whether this dependence on diameter might be extended to the mechanical properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Results were obtained by inducing a compressive deformation in SWNTs embedded in a polymer matrix by cooling the specimen to 81 K and monitoring the deformation via the Raman D* band frequency shift of the embedded nanotubes.
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Lourie et al. (1999) studied this question.