Coulomb explosion: a novel approach to separate single-walled carbon nanotubes from their bundle.
A novel approach based on Coulomb explosion has been developed to separate single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) from their bundle. With this technique, we can readily separate a bundle of SWNTs into smaller bundles with uniform diameter as well as some individual SWNTs. The separated SWNTs have a typical length of several microns and form a nanotree at one end of the original bundle. More importantly, this separating procedure involves no surfactant and includes only one-step physical process. The separation method offers great conveniences for the subsequent individual SWNT or multiterminal SWNTs device fabrication and their physical properties studies.
Liu
Guangtong
G
National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China.
Zhao
Yuanchun
Y
Zheng
Kaihong
K
Liu
Zheng
Z
Ma
Wenjun
W
Ren
Yan
Y
Xie
Sishen
S
Sun
Lianfeng
L
D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D055672:Static Electricity; D013499:Surface Properties
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon