Bulk cutting of carbon nanotubes using electron beam irradiation

US8540959B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• William Marsh Rice University · US

Inventors

• Kirk Jeremy Ziegler · Gainesville, US
• Urs Rauwald · Düsseldorf, DE
• Robert H. Hauge · Houston, US
• Howard K. Schmidt · Dhahran, SA
• Richard E. Smalley · Houston, US
• W. Carter Kittrell · Houston, US
• Zhenning Gu · Sugar Land, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 7, 2007
• Grant date: Sep 24, 2013
• Expiry date: Jan 17, 2028

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C01B2202/34
• WIPO field: Materials, metallurgy
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

According to some embodiments, the present invention provides a method for attaining short carbon nanotubes utilizing electron beam irradiation, for example, of a carbon nanotube sample. The sample may be pretreated, for example by oxonation. The pretreatment may introduce defects to the sidewalls of the nanotubes. The method is shown to produces nanotubes with a distribution of lengths, with the majority of lengths shorter than 100 tun. Further, the median length of the nanotubes is between about 20 nm and about 100 nm.