Structural transformation of fluorinated carbon nanotubes induced by in situ electron-beam irradiation.
We have investigated the structural transformation of fluorinated singlewalled nanotubes (SWNTs) induced by electron-beam irradiation during the transmission electron microscope observations. Heavily fluorinated SWNT bundles were systematically transformed into multiwall-like nanotubes by releasing fluorine atoms during electron-beam irradiation and even broken into two pieces of the capped graphitic structures. Such structural transformations at relatively low kinetic energy (< or = 300 keV) could be explained by the local strains induced by fluorination, where C-C bonds that were fluorine-attached became 1.53 A, a single bond similar to that of a diamond, from our density functional calculations. We propose a possible concerted pathway for the structural transformation of fluorinated SWNTs induced by electron-beam irradiation based on the experimental observations.
An
Kay Hyeok
KH
BK21 Physics Division, Institute of Basic Science, Center for Nanotubes and Nanostructured Composites (CNNC), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea.
Park
Kyung Ah
KA
Heo
Jeong Gu
JG
Lee
Ji Yeong
JY
Jeon
Kwan Ku
KK
Lim
Seong Chu
SC
Yang
Cheol Woong
CW
Lee
Young Seak
YS
Lee
Young Hee
YH