Abstract

Purification and shortening of carbon nanotubes have attracted a great deal of attention to increase the biocompatibility and performance of the material in several applications. Steam treatment has been employed to afford both purification and shortening of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Steam removes the amorphous carbon and the graphitic particles that sheath catalytic nanoparticles, facilitating their removal by a subsequent acidic wash. The amount of metal impurities can be reduced in this manner below 0.01wt.%. The length distribution of MWCNTs after different steam treatment times (from 1h to 15h) was assessed by box plot analysis of the electron microscopy data. Samples with a median length of 0.57μm have been prepared with the reported methodology while preserving the integrity of the tubular wall structure.

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