Growth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes from Well-Defined POSS Nanoclusters Structure

Abstract

High-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with narrow diameter distribution can be generated from well-de¯ned Si 8 O 12 nanoclusters structure which form from thermal decomposition of chemically modi¯ed polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). The nanosized Si x O y particles were proved to be responsible for the SWNT growth and believed to be the reason for the narrow diameter distribution of the as-grown SWNTs. This could be extended to other POSS. The SWNTs grown from the nanosized Si x O y particles were found to be semiconducting enriched SWNTs (s-SWNTs). A facile patterning technology, direct photolithography, was developed for generating SWNT pattern, which is compatible to industrial-level fabrication of SWNTs pattern for device applications. The metal-free growth together with preferential growth of s-SWNTs and patterning in large scale from the structure-de¯ned silicon oxide nanoclusters not only represent a big step toward the control growth of SWNTs and fabrication of devices for applications particularly in nanoelectronics and biomedicine but also provide a system for further studying and understanding the growth mechanism of SWNTs from nanosized materials and the relationship between the structure of SWNT and nonmetal catalysts.