Tailoring carbon nanotubes quickly into graphene nanoribbons along axis-direction via dynamic magnetic flux template

Abstract

So far, the method of top-down preparing graphene nanoribbons by etching of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) mainly relies on the catalytic reaction of Fe, Co, and Ni nanoparticles. However, etching cannot be guaranteed along the CNT axis only. In this study, Ti3AlC2 is decomposed into liquid aluminum in the dynamic magnetic flux template to catalyze the growth of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Successively, the obtained MWCNTs are etched in-situ by rutile TiO2 particles to generate multilayered graphene nanoribbons (MLGNRs). Thus-obtained nanoribbons will create zigzag edges full of short-range order segment, demonstrating a spin glass state. This work has paved a new way for a top-down approach to create MLGNRs by tailoring MWCNTs along axis direction only using dynamic magnetic flux template.