Effects of purification on the diameter separation of metallic single‐walled carbon nanotubes by gel column chromatography

Abstract

Metallic single‐walled carbon nanotubes (m‐SWCNTs) with excellent conductivity and transparency are considered to be eminent electrode materials. However, it still remains a challenge to separate m‐SWCNTs by their diameters. As reported in this Letter, by effective purification treatment of SWCNTs, we succeeded in achieving diameter separation of m‐SWCNTs using gel column chromatography. TEM and Raman characterizations revealed that metal catalysts and amorphous carbon on tube surfaces were largely reduced, which contributed to the diameter separation of m‐SWCNTs. The separation process of m‐SWCNTs by gel column chromatography and their corresponding optical absorption spectra. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)