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Ultralong single-wall carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991 by Iijima1, there has been great interest in creating long, continuous nanotubes for applications where their properties coupled with extended lengths will enable new technology developments2. For example, ultralong nanotubes can be spun into fibres that are more than an order of magnitude stronger than any current structural material, allowing revolutionary advances in lightweight, high-strength applications3. Long metallic nanotubes will enable new types of micro-electromechanical systems such as micro-electric motors, and can also act as a nanoconducting cable for wiring micro-electronic devices4. Here we report the synthesis of 4-cm-long individual single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at a high growth rate of 11 μm s−1 by catalytic chemical vapour deposition. Our results suggest the possibility of growing SWNTs continuously without any apparent length limitation.

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Figure 1: A 4-cm-long carbon nanotube.
Figure 2: AFM.
Figure 3: The Raman image and spectrum of a long SWNT.
Figure 4: Morphology of SWNTs that ended on the Si Substrate surface away from edges.
Figure 5: Raman image and spectrum of the growth termination region of a long SWNT indicates nucleation of dense nanotubes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program office of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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Correspondence to Y. T. Zhu.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Zheng, L., O'Connell, M., Doorn, S. et al. Ultralong single-wall carbon nanotubes. Nature Mater 3, 673–676 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1216

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