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The superiority of air oxidation over liquid-phase oxidative treatment in the purification of carbon nanotubes

Suri, Anil; Coleman, Karl S.

Authors

Anil Suri



Abstract

Questions of fundamental importance to the purification of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been investigated. We contrast the oxidation of CNTs in air with the overwhelmingly popular liquid-phase oxidising acid-treatment, and find that the former is advantageous over the latter, while being at least as efficient. Air-oxidation can remove the associated impurities in as-produced CNT material while inflicting considerably less damage than oxidising acid-treatment, and also does not lead to the formation of debris on CNT surfaces. Air oxidation may be inevitable in CNT purification, even if liquid-phase oxidation has been employed. It was also found that there is no "standard" recipe for purifying CNTs, even for different batches produced by the same method while keeping the macroscopic process conditions identical; purification procedures must be re-evaluated for every batch to ensure complete removal of impurities.

Citation

Suri, A., & Coleman, K. S. (2011). The superiority of air oxidation over liquid-phase oxidative treatment in the purification of carbon nanotubes. Carbon, 49(9), 3031-3038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2011.03.023

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2011-08
Deposit Date May 21, 2014
Journal Carbon
Print ISSN 0008-6223
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 49
Issue 9
Pages 3031-3038
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2011.03.023
Keywords sidewall functionalization sensitivity adsorption
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1431459