Diameter control of single-walled carbon nanotube forests from 1.3-3.0 nm by arc plasma deposition

Abstract

We present a method to both precisely and continuously control the average diameter of single-walled carbon nanotubes in a forest ranging from 1.3 to 3.0 nm with ∼1 Å resolution. The diameter control of the forest was achieved through tuning of the catalyst state (size, density, and composition) using arc plasma deposition of nanoparticles. This 1.7 nm control range and 1 Å precision exceed the highest reports to date.