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Photonic Sorting of Aligned, Crystalline Carbon Nanotube Textiles

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Bulmer, J 

Abstract

Floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition uniquely generates aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) textiles with individual CNT lengths magnitudes longer than competing processes, though hindered by impurities and intrinsic/extrinsic defects. We present a photonic-based post-process, particularly suited for these textiles, that selectively removes defective CNTs and other carbons not forming a threshold thermal pathway. In this method, a large diameter laser beam rasters across the surface of a partly aligned CNT textile in air, suspended from its ends. This results in brilliant, localized oxidation, where remaining material is an optically transparent film comprised of few-walled CNTs with profound and unique improvement in microstructure alignment and crystallinity. Raman spectroscopy shows substantial D peak suppression while preserving radial breathing modes. This increases the undoped, specific electrical conductivity at least an order of magnitude to beyond that of single-crystal graphite. Cryogenic conductivity measurements indicate intrinsic transport enhancement, opposed to simply removing nonconductive carbons/residual catalyst.

Description

Keywords

0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

Journal Title

Scientific Reports

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2045-2322
2045-2322

Volume Title

7

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M02086X/1)
We acknowledge the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant, “Instrumentation and Control of Carbon Nanotube Fibre Manufacture” reference number EP/M02086X/1.