Raman Study on Doped Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

In the present study we report resonance Raman study on multiwalled carbon nanotubes treated with HCl, HNO3 and H2SO4. Acids are commonly used in purification procedures in order to remove catalyst particles from the as-produced material. However, it is known that acid treatments in multiwalled carbon nanotubes can induce a surface functionalisation and intercalation of the walls, modifying their electronic properties. Here, we present a comparative study between samples of multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with the most common acids used in the purification of carbon materials, and the influence of the acid treatment time on their vibronic properties. The samples were analysed via the Raman spectroscopy using the laser length of 785 nm. The presented data reveal the modification of the typical multiwalled carbon nanotubes Raman bands such as: disorder band (D band), the graphite band (G band), and the two-phonon second order Raman band (G′ band). The last one shows a broadening effect on its line shape and the appearance of an additional peak. All the treatments enhance the number of defects in the graphitic structure of multiwalled carbon nanotubes.