Elimination of metal catalyst and carbon-like impurities from single-wall carbon nanotube raw material

The purification of as-produced single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) material is one important step in order to make the material optimally suited for a number of potential applications. We present a purification procedure based upon oxidation of the raw material in oxygen atmosphere at elevated temperatures and a subsequent treatment in HCl. It is shown that this procedure results in the removal of the majority of the impurities comprising carbonaceous species and metal catalyst particles. The purification and the evolution of SWCNT material using this procedure are monitored using optical absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy including electron energy-loss spectroscopy as well as electron diffraction. Furthermore, the method has a sufficiently high yield of about 50% to be applicable for a large-scale purification.