Having access to the chemical environment at the atomic level of a dopant in a nanostructure is crucial for the understanding of its properties. We have performed atomically-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy to detect individual nitrogen dopants in single-walled carbon nanotubes and compared with first principles calculations. We demonstrate that nitrogen doping occurs as single atoms in different bonding configurations: graphitic-like and pyrrolic-like substitutional nitrogen neighbouring local lattice distortion such as Stone-Thrower-Wales defects. The stability under the electron beam of these nanotubes has been studied in two extreme cases of nitrogen incorporation content and configuration. These findings provide key information for the applications of these nanostructures.
Nitrogen doped single wall carbon nanotubes have many functional benefits. Doping opens the possibility to control the electronic energy levels, surface energy, surface reactivity and charge carrier density. The additional electron in the outer shell changes the electronic properties of the nanotubes when introduced into the carbon lattice. Here we present the latest findings in the in-situ doping during synthesis of single wall carbon nanotubes using caffeine as a precursor of both carbon and nitrogen. A special furnace with two heating elements allowed us to sublimate and decompose the solid precursor. Caffeine allowed us to reach a high doping percentage with high quality nanotubes directly in a one-step synthesis procedure.
In this work, phosphorous-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes have been synthesized by the thermal decomposition of trimethylphosphine using a high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition method. Furthermore, a modified density-gradient-ultracentrifugation process has been applied to carefully purify our doped material. The combined use of Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy allowed us to provide the first insight into the bonding environment of P incorporated into the carbon lattice, avoiding competing signals arising from synthesis byproducts. This study represents the first step toward the identification of the bonding configuration of P atoms when direct substitution takes place.
We have calculated the binding energy of various nucleobases (guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T) and cytosine (C)) with (5,5) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using ab-initio Hartre-Fock method (HF) together with force field calculations. The gas phase binding energies follow the sequence G $>$ A $>$ T $>$ C. We show that main contribution to binding energy comes from van-der Wall (vdW) interaction between nanotube and nucleobases. We compare these results with the interaction of nucleobases with graphene. We show that the binding energy of bases with SWNTs is much lower than the graphene but the sequence remains same. When we include the effect of solvation energy (Poisson-Boltzman (PB) solver at HF level), the binding energy follow the sequence G $>$ T $>$ A $>$ C $>$, which explains the experimentcite{zheng} that oligonucleotides made of thymine bases are more effective in dispersing the SWNT in aqueous solution as compared to poly (A) and poly (C). We also demonstrate experimentally that there is differential binding affinity of nucleobases with the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by directly measuring the binding strength using isothermal titration (micro) calorimetry. The binding sequence of the nucleobases varies as thymine (T) $>$ adenine (A) $>$ cytosine (C), in agreement with our calculation.
Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations on the adsorption of $^4$He in open-ended single walled (10,10) nanotubes are presented. We have found a first order phase transition separating a low density liquid phase in which all $^4$He atoms are adsorbed close to the tube wall and a high density arrangement characterized by two helium concentric layers. The energy correction due to the presence of neighboring tubes in a bundle has also been calculated, finding it negligible in the density range considered.
A boost in the development of flexible and wearable electronics facilitates the design of new materials to be applied as transparent conducting films (TCFs). Although single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films are the most promising candidates for flexible TCFs, they still do not meet optoelectronic requirements demanded their successful industrial integration. In this study, we proposed and thoroughly investigated a new approach that comprises simultaneous bilateral (outer and inner surfaces) SWCNT doping after their opening by thermal treatment at 400 C under an ambient air atmosphere. Doping by a chloroauric acid (HAuCl$_{4}$) ethanol solution allowed us to achieve the record value of sheet resistance of 31 $pm$ 4 $Omega$/sq at a transmittance of 90% in the middle of visible spectra (550 nm). The strong p-doping was examined by open-circuit potential (OCP) measurements and confirmed by ab initio calculations demonstrating a downshift of Fermi level around 1 eV for the case of bilateral doping.