Controlled oxidative cutting of carbon nanotubes catalysed by silver nanoparticles

A. Miners, Scott; A. Rance, Graham; La Torre, Alessandro; M. Kenny, Stephen; N. Khlobystov, Andrei

Abstract

A systematic comparison of different methods for the cutting of carbon nanotubes has shown that oxidation catalysed by silver nanoparticles is a superior method for the efficient procurement of short carbon nanotubes with minimal introduction of sidewall damage. Complementary examination by microscopic and spectroscopic approaches indicates that the mean length of multi-walled carbon nanotubes synthesised by chemical vapour deposition can be reduced by a factor of five or more while preserving sidewall structure. We have demonstrated the versatility of this procedure by application to an array of hollow carbon nanostructures possessing a diverse range of structural characteristics, such as length, diameter, internal and external structures, with the extent of cutting seemingly related to the initial degree of structural imperfection in the nanotube.

Citation

A. Miners, S., A. Rance, G., La Torre, A., M. Kenny, S., & N. Khlobystov, A. (2014). Controlled oxidative cutting of carbon nanotubes catalysed by silver nanoparticles. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2(39), 8357-8363. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tc01334d

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 20, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Aug 21, 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry C
• Print ISSN: 2050-7526
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-7534
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 39
• Pages: 8357-8363
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tc01334d
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/24586543
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/tc/c4tc01334d