Removing Aggregates from Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Samples by Magnetic Purification

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• 作者：Saunab Ghosh ; Sergei M. Bachilo ; R. Bruce Weisman
• 刊名：Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：February 27, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：118
• 期：8
• 页码：4489-4494
• 全文大小：351K
• 年卷期：v.118,no.8(February 27, 2014)
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

Purification of raw single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) material remains an important challenge in nanotube research and applications. We describe here a simple but effective purification method that uses permanent magnets to remove many nanotube aggregates, as well as residual metallic catalyst, from aqueous suspensions of surfactant-coated SWCNTs. Samples have been characterized by optical absorption, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopies; atomic force microscopy and near-infrared fluorescence microscopy; and thermogravimetric analysis. It is found that magnetic purification reduces absorption backgrounds and increases average fluorescence efficiencies to levels comparable to those in ultracentrifuged samples. The ratio of individualized SWCNTs to aggregates in magnetically processed HiPco samples is estimated to be approximately 4:1. As compared to ultracentrifugation, magnetic processing promises major advantages in cost, simplicity, energy consumption, and scalability.