Chirality-Controlled Growth of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Using Vapor Phase Epitaxy: Mechanistic Understanding and Scalable Production

Abstract : In this report, we present our efforts in establishing a novel and effective approach for chirality-controlled synthesis of single-wall carbon nanotubes. Firstly, we have successfully demonstrated a vapor-phase-epitaxy-analogous general strategy for producing nanotubes of predefined chirality. By combining nanotube separation with synthesis, we have achieved controlled growth of nanotubes with preselected chirality. Moreover, we carried out systematic investigations of the chirality-dependent growth kinetics and termination mechanism for the vapor-phase epitaxial growth of seven different single-chirality nanotubes of (9, 1), (6, 5), (8, 3), (7, 6), (10, 2), (6, 6), and (7, 7), covering near zigzag, medium chiral angle, and near armchair semiconductors, as well as armchair metallic nanotubes. Furthermore, we explored and successfully managed to elongate organic synthesized (5, 5) end-cap molecules into small-diameter nearly-pure-semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes with vapor-phase-epitaxy cloning approach.