We report that entirely end-bonded multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) can show superconductivity with the transition temperature Tc as high as 12K that is approximately 40-times larger than those reported in ropes of single-walled nanotubes. We find that emergence of this superconductivity is very sensitive to junction structures of Au electrode/MWNTs. This reveals that only MWNTs with optimal numbers of electrically activated shells, which are realized by the end-bonding, can allow the superconductivity due to inter shell effects.
We report Meissner effect for type-II superconductors with a maximum Tc of 19 K, which is the highest value among those in new-carbon related superconductors, found in the honeycomb arrays of multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs). Drastic reduction of ferromagnetic catalyst and efficient growth of MWNTs by deoxidization of catalyst make the finding possible. The weak magnetic anisotropy, superconductive coherence length (- 7 nm), and disappearance of the Meissner effect after dissolving array structure indicate that the graphite structure of an MWNT and those intertube coupling in the honeycomb array are dominant factors for the mechanism.
Recent experimental and theoretical results on intrinsic superconductivity in ropes of single-wall carbon nanotubes are reviewed and compared. We find strong experimental evidence for superconductivity when the distance between the normal electrodes is large enough. This indicates the presence of attractive phonon-mediated interactions in carbon nanotubes, which can even overcome the repulsive Coulomb interactions. The effective low-energy theory of rope superconductivity explains the experimental results on the temperature-dependent resistance below the transition temperature in terms of quantum phase slips. Quantitative agreement with only one fit parameter can be obtained. Nanotube ropes thus represent superconductors in an extreme 1D limit never explored before.
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.
The dynamical conductance of electrically contacted single-walled carbon nanotubes is measured from dc to 10 GHz as a function of source-drain voltage in both the low-field and high-field limits. The ac conductance of the nanotube itself is found to be equal to the dc conductance over the frequency range studied for tubes in both the ballistic and diffusive limit. This clearly demonstrates that nanotubes can carry high-frequency currents at least as well as dc currents over a wide range of operating conditions. Although a detailed theoretical explanation is still lacking, we present a phenomenological model of the ac impedance of a carbon nanotube in the presence of scattering that is consistent with these results.
The superconducting transition temperatures of high-Tc compounds based on copper, iron, ruthenium and certain organic molecules are discovered to be dependent on bond lengths, ionic valences, and Coulomb coupling between electronic bands in adjacent, spatially separated layers [1]. Optimal transition temperature, denoted as T_c0, is given by the universal expression $k_BT_c0 = e^2 Lambda / ellzeta$; $ell$ is the spacing between interacting charges within the layers, zeta is the distance between interacting layers and Lambda is a universal constant, equal to about twice the reduced electron Compton wavelength (suggesting that Compton scattering plays a role in pairing). Non-optimum compounds in which sample degradation is evident typically exhibit Tc < T_c0. For the 31+ optimum compounds tested, the theoretical and experimental T_c0 agree statistically to within +/- 1.4 K. The elemental high Tc building block comprises two adjacent and spatially separated charge layers; the factor e^2/zeta arises from Coulomb forces between them. The theoretical charge structure representing a room-temperature superconductor is also presented.