Recent progresses on the new condensed forms of single-walled carbon nanotubes and energy-harvesting devices

Abstract

We demonstrate an effective method to prepare a new condensed form of single-walled carbon nanotubes (crystal of SWNTs) using a series of diamond wire drawing dies. X-ray diffraction indicates that the SWNTs form a two-dimensional triangular lattice with a lattice constant of 19.62 Å. An intertube spacing of 3.39 Å of between adjacent SWNTs results in a sharp (002) reflection in the X-ray diffraction pattern. Meanwhile, we developed an approach based on the Coulomb explosion to separate SWNTs from their bundle. The separated SWNTs have a typical length of several microns and form a nanotree at one end of the original bundle. The separation is convenient and involves no surfactant. In studying devices comprising SWNTs, we find that a four-probe technique can be employed to study the filling of and flow within the inner channel of an individual SWNT. Current/voltage can drive water molecules to have directional flow along an SWNT, and the flowing of water inside an SWNT can induce a voltage gradient force (an induced electromotive force) along the SWNT. This energy conversion is realized by the mutual coupling of water dipoles and charge carriers present in SWNTs. The results suggest that SWNTs can be exploited as molecular channels for water and may find potential application in nanoscale energy conversion. Moreover, a surface-energy generator comprising SWNTs was demonstrated to harvest the surface energy of ethanol. The performance (the induction rate for V oc, the value of V oc and the output power) can be significantly enhanced by the Marangoni effect. © 2011 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.