Palaci, I.Fedrigo, S.Brune, H.Klinke, C.Chen, M.Riedo, E.2009-04-142009-04-142009-04-14200510.1103/PhysRevLett.94.175502https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/37203WOS:0002289322000426753We report an experimental and a theoretical study of the radial elasticity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a function of external radius. We use atomic force microscopy and apply small indentation amplitudes in order to stay in the linear elasticity regime. The number of layers for a given tube radius is inferred from transmission electron microscopy, revealing constant ratios of external to internal radii. This enables a comparison with molecular dynamics results, which also shed some light onto the applicability of Hertz theory in this context. Using this theory, we find a radial Young modulus strongly decreasing with increasing radius and reaching an asymptotic value of 30± 10 GPa.Nanotribology and Nanomechanicstext::journal::journal article::research article