Single chirality single-walled carbon nanotubes : isolation and application

Abstract

Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes are of great interest as a semiconducting material with diameters around 1nm and length in the 100s of nm to mm range. The large aspect ratio, near-infrared wavelength bandgap and a high conductivity enable a large number of optical and optoelectronic applications inaccessible by other materials. However, carbon nanotubes as produced are heterogeneous in electronic properties that are dependent on their chirality. Small changes in geometry of the tube dramatically change the bandgap of the tube, and whether it is metallic or semiconducting. This thesis establishes the first reproducible method by which to separate a single electronic type of carbon nanotube, i.e. a single chirality. The mechanism by which this separation occurs is explored experimentally and via quantitative modelling. The thesis ends with a demonstration of the first near infrared single chirality carbon nanotube solar cell.