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Diameter‐Sensitive Breakdown of Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes upon KOH Activation
Author(s) -
Ye Jianglin,
Wu Shuilin,
Ni Kun,
Tan Ziqi,
Xu Jin,
Tao Zhuchen,
Zhu Yanwu
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201700300
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , thermogravimetric analysis , potassium hydroxide , raman spectroscopy , activation energy , infrared spectroscopy , mass spectrometry , chemical engineering , selectivity , materials science , hydroxide , spectroscopy , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , chromatography , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics , optics
While potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation has been used to create pores in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for improved energy‐storage performance, the KOH activation mechanism of CNTs has been rarely investigated. In this work, the reaction between single‐walled CNTs (SWCNTs) and KOH is studied in situ by thermogravimetric analysis coupled to infrared (IR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (MS). The IR and MS results clearly demonstrate the sequential evolution of CO, hydrocarbons, CO 2 , and H 2 O in the activation process. By using the radial breathing mode of Raman spectroscopy, a diameter‐sensitive selectivity is observed in the reaction between SWCNTs and KOH, leading to a preferential distribution of SWCNTs with diameters larger than 1 nm after activation at 900 °C and a preferential removal of SWCNTs with diameters below 1 nm upon activation.