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Brief Communications

Nature 433, 476 (3 February 2005) | doi:10.1038/433476a; Published online 2 February 2005

Nanotechnology:  'Buckypaper' from coaxial nanotubes

M. Endo1, H. Muramatsu1, T. Hayashi1, Y. A. Kim1, M. Terrones2 & M. S. Dresselhaus3

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Double-walled carbon nanotubes are needed in a pure, highly crystalline form before features such as their electronic properties, thermal transport and mechanical behaviour can be investigated. Here we fabricate a paper-like material that consists of hexagonally packed bundles of clean, coaxial carbon nanotubes whose double walls vary little in diameter; it is prepared in high yields using chemical-vapour deposition with a conditioning catalyst and two-step purification. Our results will enable investigation of the physical properties of double-walled carbon nanotubes, which are predicted to be superior to those of both their single- and multiwalled relatives.

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