A band structure study on inter-wall conductance of double-walled carbon nanotubes

Recent advances in etching agents and techniques on the fabrication of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) have introduced various techniques and devices based on nanotube technology. The present study evaluates the inter-shell interaction of DWCNT through density functional theory (DFT) and charge transfer model. The results showed that the band structure of a DWCNT is determined by super positioning of the band structures of the two individual CNT constituting the DWCNT. In next step, interwall conductance the electronic properties of DWCNT were studied through the band-structure approach. Our assessments have shown that at lower potentials the amount of intershell leakage current is negligible.