Proton and electron irradiation effects on multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

In the present study, interaction of electron and proton irradiation on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were investigated. The pelletized samples were subjected to different doses (0.6 × 1013 p/cm2; 1.8 × 1013 p/cm2; 3.6 × 1013 p/cm2) of 15 MeV energetic proton irradiation. Also, effect of different energies (6 MeV; 9 MeV; 12 MeV; 15 MeV) of electron irradiation in 1000 mGy were investigated. Raman spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed to elucidate the optical, structural, morphological and chemical changes of the samples under irradiation. According to the Raman and XPS results, in case of irradiation with proton, increasing trend in the formation of defects has been concluded for all different fluences of proton irradiation. Especially imperfection rate has reached highest value for the sample irradiated with 0.6 × 1013 p/cm2 proton fluence. The rate of increase in defect formation is 10.18% compared to non-irradiated sample. The reduction in increasing of defect rate with increasing fluence indicates that the mechanisms of defect removal are not predominant, but increase. Increasing trend of the structural imperfections have occurred with the irradiation in electrons (except for 6 MeV energetic electrons). Especially, in the case of irradiation with 15 MeV energized electrons, the defect rate is the highest with 8.5% compared to the non-irradiated sample. Structural distortions manifest themselves as bending, penetration, fractures and black spots in the TEM and SEM figures.