Magnetically Induced Current Densities in Toroidal Carbon Nanotubes

Molecular structures of toroidal carbon nanotubes (TCNTs) have been constructed and optimized at the density functional theory (DFT) level. The TCNT structures have been constrained by using point groups with high symmetry. TCNTs consisting of only hexagons (polyhex) with armchair, chiral, and zigzag structures as well as TCNTs with pentagons and heptagons have been studied. The employed method for constructing general polyhex TCNTs is discussed. Magnetically induced current densities have been calculated using the gauge-including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) method. The strength of the magnetically induced ring currents has been obtained by integrating the current density passing a plane cutting the ring of the TCNT. The main pathways of the current density have been identified by visualizing the current density. The calculations show that the strength of the diatropic ring current of polyhex TCNTs with an armchair structure generally increases with the size of the TCNT, whereas TCNTs with a zigzag structure sustain very weak diatropic ring currents. Some of the TCNTs with pentagons and heptagons sustain a strong diatropic ring current, whereas other TCNT structures with pentagons and heptagons sustain paratropic ring currents that are, in most cases, relatively weak. We discuss the reasons for the different behaviors of the current density of the seemingly similar TCNTs.