Quantitative evaluation of Coulombic interactions in the oriented-attachment growth of nanotubes.

The Coulombic interaction in the oriented attachment growth of one-dimensional nanotubes is evaluated via a newly-derived analytical expression of the Coulombic interactions between a spherical attaching nanoparticle and a growing nanotube. The correlation between the interaction and the important growth parameters, including nanoparticle/nanotube size, aspect ratio, and nanoparticle-nanotube separation has been analyzed. Our work provides, for the first time, an efficient platform to investigate the growth kinetics and mechanisms of oriented attachment growth of nanotubes.