Selective removal of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes by combined in situ and post-synthesis oxidation

✍ Scribed by Bing Yu; Peng-Xiang Hou; Feng Li; Bilu Liu; Chang Liu; Hui-Ming Cheng

• Book ID: 104009166
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 858 KB
• Volume: 48
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-6223
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2010.04.032

✦ Synopsis

A combined in situ and post-synthesis gas phase oxidation approach for selective removal of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (m-SWCNTs) is reported. The in situ oxidation is performed by introducing a small amount of oxygen during the synthesis of SWCNTs by floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition, and the post-synthesis oxidation is conducted by heat-treating the synthesized SWCNTs in air at 400 °C. A combination of characterization techniques shows that m-SWCNTs were selectively removed as a result of their higher reactive activity to oxygen compared to semiconducting SWCNTs, and the diameter distribution of the SWCNTs is narrowed to a range of 1.5-2.0 nm. The mechanism of the combined in situ and post-synthesis oxidation approach is discussed.