Enhanced ductile behavior of tensile-elongated individual double-walled and triple-walled carbon nanotubes at high temperatures.

We report exceptional ductile behavior in individual double-walled and triple-walled carbon nanotubes at temperatures above 2000 degrees C, with tensile elongation of 190% and diameter reduction of 90%, during in situ tensile-loading experiments conducted inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Concurrent atomic-scale microstructure observations reveal that the superelongation is attributed to a high temperature creep deformation mechanism mediated by atom or vacancy diffusion, dislocation climb, and kink motion at high temperatures. The superelongation in double-walled and triple-walled carbon nanotubes, the creep deformation mechanism, and dislocation climb in carbon nanotubes are reported here for the first time.