US 7,514,063 B1
Method for the purification of semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes
George S Tulevski, White Plains, N.Y. (US); Ali Afzali-Ardakani, Ossining, N.Y. (US); and Daniel P Sanders, San Jose, Calif. (US)
Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y. (US)
Filed on Feb. 08, 2008, as Appl. No. 12/28,149.
Int. Cl. C01B 31/02 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 423—460  [210/638; 210/749; 209/1; 209/155; 423/461; 977/748; 977/751; 977/842; 977/845; 977/847] 1 Claim
 
1. A method for separating a pristine semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube from a mixture of a pristine metallic single-walled carbon nanotube and a pristine semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube, the method consisting essentially of:
(a) obtaining an aqueous mixture of a pristine metallic single-walled carbon nanotube and a pristine semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube, and, optionally, a surfactant;
(b) adding a functionalized polymeric, metal, metal oxide or mixed metal oxide particle to the aqueous mixture; whereby the particle is functionalized with a moiety selected from the group consisting of an aryl diazonium salt, an aryl carboxylic acid and aryl amine;
(c) reacting the functionalized particle with the pristine metallic single-walled carbon nanotube to obtain a chemically bonded composite comprising the pristine metallic single-walled carbon nanotube and the functionalized water insoluble particle; and
(d) separating the chemically bonded composite from the pristine semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube to obtain a purified pristine semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube.