Issue 11, 2018

The kinetics of chirality assignment in catalytic single-walled carbon nanotube growth and the routes towards selective growth

Abstract

Depending on its specific structure, or so-called chirality, a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) can be either a conductor or a semiconductor. This feature ensures great potential for building ∼1 nm sized electronics if chirality-selected SWCNTs could be achieved. However, due to the limited understanding of the growth mechanism of SWCNTs, reliable methods for chirality-selected SWCNTs are still pending. Here we present a theoretical model on the chirality assignment and control of SWCNTs during the catalytic growth. This study reveals that the chirality of a SWCNT is determined by the kinetic incorporation of pentagons, especially the last (6th) one, during the nucleation stage. Our analysis showed that the chirality of a SWCNT is randomly assigned on a liquid or liquid-like catalyst surface, and two routes of synthesizing chirality-selected SWCNTs, which are verified by recent experimental achievements, are demonstrated. They are (i) by using high melting point crystalline catalysts, such as Ta, W, Re, Os, or their alloys, and (ii) by frequently changing the chirality of SWCNTs during their growth. This study paves the way for achieving chirality-selective SWCNT growth for high performance SWCNT based electronics.

Graphical abstract: The kinetics of chirality assignment in catalytic single-walled carbon nanotube growth and the routes towards selective growth

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
01 Nov. 2017
Accepted
18 Febr. 2018
First published
19 Febr. 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 3056-3061

The kinetics of chirality assignment in catalytic single-walled carbon nanotube growth and the routes towards selective growth

Z. Xu, L. Qiu and F. Ding, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 3056 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC04714B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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