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Review
. 2010 Jun 30;3(7):3818-3844.
doi: 10.3390/ma3073818.

A Comprehensive Review on Separation Methods and Techniques for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Naoki Komatsu  1 , Feng Wang  2
Affiliations
Review

A Comprehensive Review on Separation Methods and Techniques for Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Naoki Komatsu et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Structural control of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is attracting enormous interest in view of their applications to nanoelectronics and nanooptics. Actually, more than 200 papers regarding separation of SWNTs have been published since 1998. In this review, they are classified into the following five sections according to the separation methods; electrophoresis, centrifugation, chromatography, selective solubilization and selective reaction. In each method, all literature is summarized in tables showing the separated objects (metallic/semiconducting (M/S), length, diameter, (n, m) structure and/or handedness), the production process of the used SWNTs (CoMoCAT, HiPco, arc discharge and/or laser vaporization) and the employed chemicals, such as detergents and polymers. Changes in annual number of publications related to this subject are also discussed.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; separation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Armchair, (b) zigzag, and (c) chiral SWNTs. P and M describing the handedness of CNTs are defined in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(M)- or (P)-(n, m)-SWNT defined by rolling up the graphene along the roll-up vector Ch from the front to the back, so that the front and back sides become the outer and inner surfaces of the SWNT, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Definition of (a) M (left-handed) and (b) P (right-handed) chiral SWNTs. Three arrows and dashed line indicate zigzag lines and SWNT axis, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Annual change in number of publications in the following five methods; electrophoresis (3-1), centrifugation (3-2), chromatography (4-1), selective solubilization (4-2) and selective reaction (4-3).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Annual change in number of publications in the following targeted objects to be separated; M/S, length, diameter, (n, m) and handedness.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Rate in targeted object of SWNTs to be separated in the following five methods; electrophoresis (3-1), centrifugation (3-2), chromatography (4-1), selective solubilization (4-2) and selective reaction (4-3).
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