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Atomic structure and dynamic behaviour of truly one-dimensional ionic chains inside carbon nanotubes

Nature Materials volume 13, pages 1050–1054 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Materials with reduced dimensionality have attracted much interest in various fields of fundamental and applied science. True one-dimensional (1D) crystals with single-atom thickness have been realized only for few elemental metals (Au, Ag) or carbon, all of which showed very short lifetimes under ambient conditions. We demonstrate here a successful synthesis of stable 1D ionic crystals in which two chemical elements, one being a cation and the other an anion, align alternately inside carbon nanotubes. Unusual dynamical behaviours for different atoms in the 1D lattice are experimentally corroborated and suggest substantial interactions of the atoms with the nanotube sheath. Our theoretical studies indicate that the 1D ionic crystals have optical properties distinct from those of their bulk counterparts and that the properties can be engineered by introducing atomic defects into the chains.

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Figure 1: CsI atomic chains encapsulated in double-walled carbon nanotubes.
Figure 2: Inverse intensity in the ADF profile of Cs and I atoms.
Figure 3: Fully optimized atomic structures of CsI chains in CNTs with different diameters.
Figure 4: Atom-by-atom spectroscopy for CsI atomic chains with vacancies and edges.
Figure 5: Variation of DOS corresponding to the structures of CsI atomic chains.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Gloter and C. Ewels for fruitful discussions. Y. Sato and T. Saito are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance for specimen preparations. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSAP) and JST Research Acceleration Program. A.V.K. and H-P.K. acknowledge support from the Academy of Finland through projects 263416 and COMP Centre of Excellence, respectively, and further thank CSC Finland for generous grants of computer time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanotube Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Central 5, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan

    Ryosuke Senga, Zheng Liu, Kaori Hirose-Takai & Kazu Suenaga

  2. Department of Applied Physics, Aalto University, PO Box 11100, 00076 Aalto, Finland

    Hannu-Pekka Komsa & Arkady V. Krasheninnikov

Authors
  1. Ryosuke Senga
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  2. Hannu-Pekka Komsa
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  3. Zheng Liu
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  4. Kaori Hirose-Takai
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  6. Kazu Suenaga
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Contributions

R.S. and K.S. designed the experiments. R.S. prepared materials, performed microscopy and analysed data. H-P.K. and A.V.K. performed DFT calculations. K.H-T. and Z.L. contributed to sample preparation and reference material characterization. R.S., H-P.K., A.V.K. and K.S. co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Kazu Suenaga.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Senga, R., Komsa, HP., Liu, Z. et al. Atomic structure and dynamic behaviour of truly one-dimensional ionic chains inside carbon nanotubes. Nature Mater 13, 1050–1054 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4069

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