Abstract
In carbon nanotube/ceramics composites, the clarification of the interfacial properties between carbon nanotube (CNT) and ceramics matrix is crucial for its applications. The pull-out process of a CNT from an alumina (α-Al_2O_3) matrix is investigated for the first time by using molecular mechanics (MM) simulations to study these interfacial properties due to van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic Coulombic interactions. The pull-out force of carbon nanotube is found to be proportional to its diameter, and independent of nanotube length and alumina grain boundary type. The interfacial shear stress during the pull-out process is further systematically explored to address this phenomenon. Moreover, the pull-out process of a multi-walled carbon nanotube is simulated to study the influence of wall number on the pull-out force.
