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Linking catalyst composition to chirality distributions of as-grown single-walled carbon nanotubes by tuning NixFe1−x nanoparticles

Nature Materials volume 8, pages 882–886 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Chirally pure single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are required for various applications ranging from nanoelectronics to nanomedicine1. Although significant efforts have been directed towards separation of SWCNT mixtures, including density-gradient ultracentrifugation 2, chromatography3 and electrophoresis4, the initial chirality distribution is determined during growth and must be controlled for non-destructive, scalable and economical production. Here, we show that the chirality distribution of as-grown SWCNTs can be altered by varying the composition of NixFe1−x nanocatalysts. Precise tuning of the nanocatalyst composition at constant size is achieved by a new gas-phase synthesis route based on an atmospheric-pressure microplasma. The link between the composition-dependent crystal structure of the nanocatalysts and the resulting nanotube chirality supports epitaxial models and is a step towards chiral-selective growth of SWCNTs.

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Figure 1: Microcharacterization of as-synthesized Ni and NixFe1−x nanocatalysts.
Figure 2: Ultraviolet–visible–NIR absorbance spectra of SDS-dispersed SWCNTs.
Figure 3: Micro-Raman spectra of SWCNTs.
Figure 4: Photoluminescence (PL) of SDS-dispersed SWCNTs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of A. Avishai (TEM), A. K. McIlwain (XRD), K. Singer (ultraviolet–visible–NIR), R. Silvestri and J. Koenig (micro-Raman spectroscopy), M. Barkley and E. Arts (ultracentrifuging) and F. Du and L. Dai at University of Dayton (multiline micro-Raman spectroscopy). The authors are also grateful to C. C. Liu and J. Angus for discussions.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Wei-Hung Chiang & R. Mohan Sankaran

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  1. Wei-Hung Chiang
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Correspondence to R. Mohan Sankaran.

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Chiang, WH., Mohan Sankaran, R. Linking catalyst composition to chirality distributions of as-grown single-walled carbon nanotubes by tuning NixFe1−x nanoparticles. Nature Mater 8, 882–886 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2531

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