Dispersion and Purification of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Using Carboxymethylcellulose

Abstract

We have developed a novel method for the purification of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) that involves annealing in air and dispersing the SWNTs in an aqueous solution of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The purity of the resulting SWNTs was evaluated by analytical techniques such as electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). As a result, it was revealed that CMC functioned as an effective dispersion reagent in the exfoliation of the SWNT bundles and thereby, SWNTs with appreciably high quality were prepared.