Holey Carbon Nanotubes from Controlled Air Oxidation. (22nd May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lin, Yi; Funk, Michael R.; Campbell, Caroline J.; Kim, Jae‐Woo; Han, Xiaogang; Lacey, Steven D.; Xie, Hua; Hu, Liangbing; Connell, John W.
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 27:Number 28(2017)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2017-05-22
• Subjects: air oxidation -- catalyst‐free processes -- holey carbon nanotubes -- porous carbon -- supercapacitors; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201700762
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

Abstract : Defects in various nanomaterials are often desirable to enable enhanced functional group attachments and attain properties that are not available with their intact counterparts. A new paradigm in the defective low‐dimensional carbon nanomaterials is to create holes on the graphitic surfaces via partial etching. For example, holey graphene, graphene sheets with through‐thickness holes, is synthesized using several different partial etching approaches and found useful for various applications such as field‐effect transistors, sensors, energy storage devices, and separation membranes. In these applications, the presence of holes leads to unique advantages, such as bandgap widening, chemical functionalization of hole edges, and improved accessible surface area. Here, a facile and scalable method to prepare holey carbon nanotubes via controlled air oxidation is presented. Although no additional catalyst is added, the residual iron nanocatalysts encapsulated in the nanotube cavity from nanotube manufacturing significantly contributed to the hole generation through the nanotube walls. The holey carbon nanotube products exhibit enhanced surface area, pore volume, and oxygen‐containing functional groups, which lead to their much enhanced electrochemical capacitive properties (increased over 100% in capacitance). Synthesis and characterization details of this novel class of holey carbon nanomaterials are presented, and their potential applications are discussed. Abstract : Holey carbon nanotubes are prepared by partial thermal oxidation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in air. This facile process results in holes through the tubular walls along the nanotube body. With much increased accessible surface area and pore volume, the electrochemical capacitive performances of holey carbon nanotubes become significant enhanced compared to untreated nanotubes.