Lee, KyuminLukic, BranimirMagrez, ArnaudSeo, Jin WonBriggs, G. Andrew D.Kulik, Andrzej J.Forro, Laszlo2007-07-062007-07-062007-07-06200710.1021/nl070502bhttps://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/9435WOS:000247186800030We measured the elastic modulus of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over a broad diameter range (10-25 nm). Alternating current (ac) dielectrophoresis was used for efficient tube deposition, and atomic force microscope (AFM) force-displacement curve technique was used for stiffness measurements. The elastic modulus exhibits a strong diameter dependence, showing a difference of nearly 2 orders of magnitude in the 10-20 nm diameter range (thinner MWCNTs have higher elastic modulus). Our results support the metastable-catalyst model in which the catalyst's molten skin plays a key role.text::journal::journal article::research article