Once the aspect ratio of the rods, defined as length-to-diameter ratio, and the dimensions of the enclosing box are defined, it is also necessary to specify the total number of GSK621 inside the box, i.e. the number of nanotubes in the film. The total number of rods considered along with the dimensions of the box determine the density of the film. The density of a specific CNT film can also be expressed in terms of its volumetric fraction occupied by nanotubes. The volume fraction of a typical laboratory produced nanotube film is related to the volume of CNT solution used for deposition [16] and [17], and can be directly measured. In a computer simulation, the volume fraction depends on the total number of rods distributed inside the box, and is calculated directly for each configuration generated.
Each rod is randomly placed and randomly oriented inside the box. The arbitrary orientation direction is chosen in a 3D space with no constraints, and individual rods are allowed to overlap with other rods. An arbitrary rod might also have part of its volume located outside the box, and this portion is not included when calculating the volume fraction of the film. Each ensemble of randomly distributed/oriented rigid rods gives rise to a complex random network of interconnected 1-dimensional elements, capable of capturing the most important morphological features found on a nanotube network. Fig. 2 shows a typical configuration generated with N=300N=300 identical rigid rods of length-to-diameter ratio equal to 20.
Each rod is randomly placed and randomly oriented inside the box. The arbitrary orientation direction is chosen in a 3D space with no constraints, and individual rods are allowed to overlap with other rods. An arbitrary rod might also have part of its volume located outside the box, and this portion is not included when calculating the volume fraction of the film. Each ensemble of randomly distributed/oriented rigid rods gives rise to a complex random network of interconnected 1-dimensional elements, capable of capturing the most important morphological features found on a nanotube network. Fig. 2 shows a typical configuration generated with N=300N=300 identical rigid rods of length-to-diameter ratio equal to 20.