Universal anisotropic condensation transition of gases in nanotube bundles

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Gases adsorbed within bundles of carbon nanotubes (inside of the nanotubes or in the interstitial channels between the tubes) exhibit a variety of phase transitions with the help of interactions between molecules in neighboring channels or tubes. Because the channels/tubes are widely separated, these transverse interactions are weaker than the (longitudinal) interactions within the same channel. The transition temperatures that result are therefore lower than those of typical two- or three-dimensional transitions of the same species of molecules. We discuss here the condensation transition of such a gas to form a liquid, expressing the transition behavior in universal form, where the reduced critical temperature Tc* is a universal function of the reduced transverse interaction.