Controllable Growth of (n, n −1) Family of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Chem Vol. 5; no. 5; pp. 1182 - 1193
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shuchen, Wang, Xiao, Yao, Fengrui, He, Maoshuai, Lin, Dewu, Ma, He, Sun, Yangyong, Zhao, Qiuchen, Liu, Kaihui, Ding, Feng, Zhang, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 09.05.2019
• Subjects: (n, n − 1) family carbon nanotubes; catalyst design; controlled CVD growth; infrared photodetector; SDG11: Sustainable cities and communities; semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes; semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes; controlled CVD growth; (n, n − 1) family carbon nanotubes; infrared photodetector; SDG11: Sustainable cities and communities; catalyst design
• ISSN: 2451-9294; 2451-9294
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2019.02.012

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with controlled chirality (n, m) and band gaps are expected to create a new era of electronics. Here, we report a rational design to enable SWNTs’ near-equilibrium nucleation and then grow a new family of semiconducting SWNTs: (n, n − 1) carbon nanotubes. No metallic SWNTs were observed in ∼100 samples by reflection optical spectral measurements. Combined with catalyst controlling, we have successfully synthesized both large-diameter (>2 nm) (n, n − 1) SWNTs and single-chirality (10, 9) SWNTs with abundances of 88% and >80%, respectively. Theoretical analysis indicates that the chirality of (n, n) tubes tends to change to (n, n − 1) by kinetically incorporating an energetically preferred pentagon-heptagon pair in the tube wall. This strategy opens up a new route for the growth of SWNT families beyond catalyst design. [Display omitted] •Near-equilibrium growth process•A kinetics mutation mechanism•Large-diameter (n, n − 1) carbon nanotubes with abundance of 88%•Single-chirality (10, 9) carbon nanotubes with abundance of 80% Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with controlled chirality (n, m) and band gaps are expected to create a new era of electronics. Recent progress has enabled the synthesis of (2n, n) SWNTs by designing unconventional solid catalysts, which is very challenging experimentally. Strategies for synthesizing semiconducting SWNTs beyond catalyst design are highly desirable. Herein, we report a rational design to enable SWNTs’ near-equilibrium nucleation and then grow a new family of (n, n − 1) semiconducting SWNTs, including large-diameter (>2 nm) (n, n − 1) SWNTs and single-chirality (10, 9) SWNTs with abundances of 88% and >80%, respectively. This strategy opens up a new route for the growth of SWNT families beyond catalyst design. Zhang and co-workers developed a rational approach to growing a new family of semiconducting SWNTs: (n, n − 1) carbon nanotubes. Combined with catalyst design, both large-diameter (>2 nm) (n, n − 1) SWNTs and single-chirality (10, 9) SWNTs with abundances of 88% and >80%, respectively, were successfully realized. This strategy opens up a new route for the growth of SWNT families beyond catalyst design.