Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Patras, Greece, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vass. Constantinou Avenue, 116 35 Athens, Greece, Institut de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, UPR9021 CNRS, Immunologie et Chimie Therapeutiques, 67084 Strasbourg, France, and Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Universita di Trieste, Piazzale Europa 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy

Chemistry of Carbon Nanotubes

Graphene is one of the most promising materials in nanotechnology. The electronic and mechanical properties of graphene samples with high perfection of the atomic lattice are outstanding, but structural defects, which may appear during growth or processing, deteriorate the performance of graphene-based devices. However, deviations from perfection can be useful in some applications, as they make it possible to tailor the local properties of graphene and to achieve new functionalities. In this article, the present knowledge about point and line defects in graphene are reviewed. Particular emphasis is put on the unique ability of graphene to reconstruct its lattice around intrinsic defects, leading to interesting effects and potential applications. Extrinsic defects such as foreign atoms which are of equally high importance for designing graphene-based devices with dedicated properties are also discussed.

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Structural defects in graphene

Chemical oxidation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes and their polymer nanocomposites: A review

We report a simple process to solubilize high weight fraction single-wall carbon nanotubes in water by the nonspecific physical adsorption of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate. The diameter distribution of nanotubes in the dispersion, measured by atomic force microscopy, showed that even at 20 mg/mL ∼63 ± 5% of single-wall carbon nanotube bundles exfoliated into single tubes. A measure of the length distribution of the nanotubes showed that our dispersion technique reduced nanotube fragmentation.

High Weight Fraction Surfactant Solubilization of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes in Water

Pulsed laser vaporization of graphite in the presence of certain metallic catalysts produces both carbon nanotubes and C60 molecules1. In nanotube production, most of the C60 is removed, along with other residual contaminants, by purification and annealing. It has been suggested that C60 may be trapped inside a nanotube during this elaborate sequence, but this has not been detected.

Encapsulated C 60 in carbon nanotubes

We determine, with excellent agreement between theory and experiment, the behavior of single wall carbon nanotubes during uniform electron irradiation. Calculations utilizing known ejection threshold energies predict that an isolated nanotube will damage preferentially on surfaces that lie normal to the electron beam. A minimum incident electron energy of 86 keV is required to remove a carbon atom by a knock-on collision for this geometry. Higher electron energies are required for any other geometry, and at energies exceeding 139 keV every atom on a nanotube is susceptible to ballistic ejection. Transmission electron microscopy observations of nanotubes using 80–400 keV electrons corroborate these conclusions. Based upon empirical observations, we also explain damage processes in nonisolated nanotubes.

Electron irradiation effects in single wall carbon nanotubes

Sensitivity of single-wall carbon nanotubes to chemical processing: an electron microscopy investigation

Formation mechanism of fullerene peapods and coaxial tubes: a path to large scale synthesis

Arrays of C60 molecules nested inside single-walled nanotubes represent a class of nanoscale materials having tunable properties. We report electronic measurements of this system made with a scanning tunneling microscope and demonstrate that the encapsulated C60 molecules modify the local electronic structure of the nanotube. Our measurements and calculations also show that a periodic array of C60 molecules gives rise to a hybrid electronic band, which derives its character from both the nanotube states and the C60 molecular orbitals.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/295/5556/828.full.pdf

Brian W. Smith

Papers

Encapsulated C 60 in carbon nanotubes

Electron irradiation effects in single wall carbon nanotubes

Sensitivity of single-wall carbon nanotubes to chemical processing: an electron microscopy investigation

Formation mechanism of fullerene peapods and coaxial tubes: a path to large scale synthesis

Mapping the one-dimensional electronic States of nanotube peapod structures.