Carbon nanotubes are a hot topic because of their potential technological utility and economic importance. Performing experiments can be expensive and sometimes difficult; therefore, modeling and simulation are of increasing value. Combining these two topics in one book should be very useful.
This book first gives an overview on the properties of carbon nanotubes and of composites incorporating carbon nanotubes. These topics are clearly written and can be understood by any engineer with a background in materials. The authors avoid discussing the theories of all these properties and applications in detail. This makes the book accessible to readers who are not physicists. On the other hand, a physicist expecting a helping hand to learn details of theory in the field will be disappointed. Thus, this book is written for engineers and not for physicists.
In the Properties section, the book describes electrical properties, structural and thermal properties, and methods for synthesis. The differences between three-dimensional and one-dimensional electrical conductors are explained, as well as the differences between single- and multiple-wall nanotubes. In addition, structure and thermal properties are discussed in context of the thermodynamic properties. However, the very special mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes are not discussed.
The main part of the book is devoted to modeling and simulation. All the established methods are described, ranging from quantum mechanical ab initio methods to rather experience-based methods. The authors explain in detail the differences between deterministic and probabilistic (Monte Carlo) methods. As it is a common problem often not realized by scientists doing Monte Carlo calculations, the authors give a program code to calculate random numbers and to test existing codes. This is of great importance, as random number generators often do not have a sufficient period length (pseudo random numbers).
This is a book on simulation and modeling applied to problems connected to carbon nanotubes. The selected mathematical notation is very clear to engineers and physicists. Additionally, the authors give a list of mathematical symbols, and the 37 illustrations in the book are quite instructive. At the end of the book, there is a list of 192 references connected to nearly all aspects of the topic. As modeling depends too specifically on the problem in question, the book does not give instructions on how to perform these calculations. This book is recommended to everyone who wants an introduction to modeling and simulation.
Reviewer: Dieter Vollath is CEO of NanoConsulting, Stutensee, Germany.
