Effects of electron irradiation on single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

An experimental investigation of the effects of electron irradiation on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) was conducted. The study focused on the modifications induced to the SWNT structure. SWNTs were irradiated at room temperature using a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) at 120eV. The effects of irradiation were observed and characterised using electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Samples of SWNTs were observed prior to and following irradiation to discern any changes that in SWNTs occurred as a result of irradiation. Raman spectroscopy was used to characterise the different allotropes of carbon present in irradiated samples of SWNTs. These experiments showed that electron irradiation had a significant and deleterious effect on SWNT structure. The structure was rearranged to form allotropes of carbon which are not carbon nanotube; amorphous carbon and amalgamations of a number of allotropes of carbon were found. The process of amorphisation was observed during the course of electron irradiation and was confirmed using Raman spectroscopy by the gradual weakening of the distinctive SWNT Raman spectral bands as well as the presence of bands characteristic of amorphous carbon.