Nanotubes from misfit layered compounds

First, the mechanisms leading to the formation of nanotubes from layered (2-D) materials are briefly discussed. Two main mechanisms are evoked: (1) The asymmetry of the layer along the c-axis, which leads to spontaneous folding, as revealed first by Pauling in 1930; (2) The seaming of the layer due to the abundance of dangling bonds in the rim atoms of the 2-D nanoclusters. This mechanism was discussed first in connection with carbon fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, some 30 years ago and was further extended to inorganic 2-D materials in 1992. In the second part of this work, the formation mechanism of nanotubes from misfit layered compounds (MLC) is deliberated. Here, the two forces are shown to work in synergy leading to facile formation of nanotubes from ternary misfit compounds. This synergy is demonstrated through the versatile chemistry, which has been employed to synthesize MLC nanotubes. Furthering in complexity, few recent examples of nanotubes from quaternary chalcogenide-based MLC are briefly discussed.