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Purification of Single‐Shell Nanotubes
Author(s) -
Dujardin Erik,
Ebbesen Thomas W.,
Krishnan Ajit,
Treacy Michael M. J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-4095(199805)10:8<611::aid-adma611>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , nitric acid , impurity , particle (ecology) , shell (structure) , nanotechnology , catalysis , amorphous solid , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , composite material , metallurgy , chemistry , oceanography , geology , engineering
Purification of single‐shell nanotubes is essential if reliable information about their physical and chemical properties is to be obtained. Using the present synthetic techniques, samples typically contain 30% or more amorphous carbon and catalytic metal particle impurities. An extremely simple and efficient method of purification, involving boiling the nanotubes in concentrated nitric acid, is reported. It is demonstrated that this method removes most of the impurities and, unlike some other methods, is not sensitive to the quality of the starting material.