Direct Evidence of Atomic Structure Conservation Along Ultra-Long Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 116; no. 26; pp. 14103 - 14107
• Main Authors: Arenal, R, Löthman, P, Picher, M, Than, T, Paillet, M, Jourdain, V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus, OH American Chemical Society 05.07.2012
• Subjects: Condensed Matter; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials Science; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Nanotubes; Physics; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Hot filament chemical vapor deposition; Scanning electron microscopy; High resolution electron microscopy; Semiconductor materials; Catalysts; Electron diffraction; Chirality; Growth mechanism; Carbon nanotubes; Atomic structure
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp212540n

The atomic structure of ultralong carbon nanotubes obtained by catalytic chemical vapor deposition in the kite growth mode has been studied along the nanotube length via electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Contrary to other techniques, electron diffraction studies provide a direct determination of the chiral structure of nanotubes. These studies demonstrate that the chirality of the nanotubes remained constant all along their length (i.e., up to several hundreds of micrometers). A tendency of kite-growth nanotubes to be double-walled has been observed as well as a preferential distribution toward high-chiral angles configuration. Furthermore, the studies yield a metallic:semiconducting ratio close to the one expected from a natural distribution of nanotubes (1:2).