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Structure determinations of double-wall carbon nanotubes grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition

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Abstract

We report an application of nanoarea electron diffraction for structure determination of double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWNT) grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition. The structures of 30 tubes were determined from experimental diffraction patterns. Among these tubes, the inner and outer wall structure of 18 tubes was precisely determined by comparison with kinematic electron diffraction simulations. For the structure of the DWNTs, our experiment revealed a mixture of semiconducting-metallic (S-M), S-S and M-M tubes. The spacing between the two walls ranges from 0.335 nm to 0.384 nm. Most DWNTs are incommensurate and chiral.

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Acknowledgements

Work on electron microscopy characterization is supported by DOE DEFG02-01ER45923 and DEFG02-91ER45439 and uses the TEM facility of Center for Microanalysis of Materials at FS-MRL. M.G. thanks Dr. M. Kociak for discussions.

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  1. M. Gao

    Present address: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL, 61801, USA

    M. Gao & J. M. Zuo

  2. Physical Sciences Research Laboratories, Motorola Labs, 7700 South River Parkway, Tempe, AZ, 85284, USA

    R. Zhang & L. A. Nagahara

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  1. M. Gao
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  2. J. M. Zuo
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  3. R. Zhang
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  4. L. A. Nagahara
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Correspondence to J. M. Zuo.

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Gao, M., Zuo, J.M., Zhang, R. et al. Structure determinations of double-wall carbon nanotubes grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition. J Mater Sci 41, 4382–4388 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-006-0146-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-006-0146-0

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