We report optically induced aggregation and consequent separation of specific diameter of pristine single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) from stable solution. Well dispersed solution of pristine SWNTs, without any surfactant or functionalization, show rapid aggregation by uniform exposure to UV, visible and NIR illumination. Optically induced aggregation linearly increases with consequent increase in the intensity of light. Aggregated SWNTs were separated from the dispersed supernatant and characterized using absorption and Raman spectroscopy. Separated SWNTs distinctly show enrichment of specific SWNTs under UV visible and NIR illumination.
We identify a new material phenomenon, where minute mechanical manipulations induce pronounced global structural reconfigurations in faceted multi-walled nanotubes. This behavior has strong implications on the tribological properties of these systems and may be the key to understand the enhanced inter-wall friction recently measured for boron-nitride nanotubes with respect to their carbon counterparts. Notably, the fast rotation of helical facets in these systems upon coaxial sliding may serve as a nanoscale Archimedean screw for directional transport of physisorbed molecules.
The recently reported experimental optical spectra of double-walled carbon nanotubes exhibit more peaks than it could be expected based on the layers alone. The appearance of excess peaks has been attributed to the interlayer interaction. In order to elucidate the origin of the excess peaks, we perform calculations of the optical absorption of a particular nanotube using the recursion method with non-orthogonal tight-binding basis functions. Our study shows that the interlayer interaction can give rise to major changes in the electronic structure of this nanotube, manifesting themselves with s…
We report the capacitive spring softening effect observed in single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) nanoelectromechanical (NEM) resonators. The nanotube resonators adopt dual-gate configuration with both bottom-gate and side-gate capable of tuning the resonance frequency through capacitive coupling. Interestingly, downward resonance frequency shifting is observed with increasing side-gate voltage, which can be attributed to the capacitive softening of spring constant. Furthermore, in-plane vibrational modes exhibit much stronger spring softening effect than out-of-plan modes. Our dual-gate desig…
The interactions between the layers of double-walled carbon nanotubes induce measurable shift of the G bands relative to the isolated layers. While experimental data on this shift in free-standing double-walled carbon nanotubes has been reported in the past several years, comprehensive theoretical description of the observed shift is still lacking. The prediction of this shift is important for supporting the assignment of the measured double-walled nanotubes to particular nanotube types. Here, we report a computational study of the G-band shift as a function of the semiconducting inner layer r…
Experiments with irradiated single-walled carbon nanotubes are shown to generate a set of probability distribution functions and to derive a set of information theoretic entropy-based parameters. Energetic Cs+ ions initiate linear collision cascades and nonlinear thermal spikes in single-walled carbon nanotubes. The probability distribution functions are constructed from the normalized experimental yields of the sputtered atoms and clusters. The information or Shannon entropy and fractal dimension are evaluated for each of the emitted species. Along with the fractal dimension, the information …
We show that a multi-walled carbon nanotube film can be used as the sensing element of a low-cost sensor for the alcoholic concentration in liquid solutions. To this purpose, we investigate the electrical resistance of the film as a function of the isopropanol concentration in a water solution. The analysis reveals a growing resistance with increasing isopropanol concentration and a fast response. The sensing element is re-usable as the initial resistance value is restored once the solution has evaporated. The electrical resistance increases linearly when the multi-walled carbon nanotube film …
We used scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) to characterize nickel nanoclusters grown inside single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). The nanotubes were filled with Ni(II) acetylacetonate and the molecules were transformed into nickel clusters via annealing. The metal clusters give high local contrast enhancement in near-field phase maps caused by the excitation of free charge carriers. The near-field contrast was simulated using the finite dipole model, approximating the clusters with elliptical nanoparticles. Compared to magnetic force microscopy, s-SNOM appears mu…
Single walled carbon nanotubes of 2 nm diameter and 3 to 13 micro meter length were compressed in Cu bullets and irradiated with positive ions of Cs with energies from 0.2 to 2.0 keV and subjected to successively increasing Cs dose. From the mass spectra of the sputtered carbon atoms and clusters as a function of Cs energy the monitoring of trend of the relative number densities of the fragmenting species indicates the accumulating damage. Irradiation induced fragmentation provide clues to the structural changes as a result of creation of vacancies due to the sputtering of monatomic, diatomic,…
We report a computational study, using the "moments method" [Y. Gao and M. Daw, Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 23 045002 (2015)], of the anharmonicity of the vibrational modes of single-walled carbon nanotubes. We find that modes with displacements largely within the wall are more anharmonic than modes with dominantly radial character, except for a set of modes that are related to the radial breathing mode which are the most anharmonic of all. We also find that periodicity of the calculation along the tube length does not strongly affect the anharmonicity of the modes, but that the tubes wi…
Stabilization of carbon nanotubes by filling with inner tubes: An optical spectroscopy study on double-walled carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressure
