Diameter refinement of semiconducting arc discharge single-walled carbon nanotubes via density gradient ultracentrifugation

Jung Woo T. Seo, Nathan L. Yoder, Tejas A. Shastry, Jefford J. Humes, James E. Johns, Alexander A. Green, Mark C. Hersam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Arc discharge single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) possess superlative optical and electronic properties that are of high interest for technologically important applications including fiber optic communications, biomedical imaging, and field-effect transistors. However, as-grown arc discharge SWCNTs possess a mixture of metallic and semiconducting species in addition to a wide diameter distribution (1.2 to 1.7 nm) that limit their performance in devices. While previous postsynthetic sorting efforts have achieved separation by electronic type and diameter refinement for metallic arc discharge SWCNTs, tight diameter distributions of semiconducting arc discharge SWCNTs have not yet been realized. Herein, we present two advances in density gradient ultracentrifugation that enable the isolation of high purity (>99%) semiconducting arc discharge SWCNTs with narrow diameter distributions centered at ∼1.6 and ∼1.4 nm. The resulting diameter-refined populations of semiconducting arc discharge SWCNTs possess monodisperse characteristics that are well-suited for high-performance optical and electronic technologies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2805-2810
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume4
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 5 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • DGU
  • electronic
  • near-infrared
  • optical
  • separation
  • sorting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Diameter refinement of semiconducting arc discharge single-walled carbon nanotubes via density gradient ultracentrifugation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this