Web Release Date: October 16,
Revealing the Small-Bundle Internal Structure of Vertically Aligned Single-Walled Carbon
Nanotube Films
and
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan, and Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden, D-01171 Dresden, Germany
Received: February 16, 2007
In Final Form: July 29, 2007
Abstract:
Freestanding arrays of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWNTs) synthesized from alcohol
were observed directly by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These observations revealed that the
films are comprised primarily of small bundles, containing 10 or fewer SWNTs per bundle. The absence of
large, well-formed bundles is supported by electron diffraction spectra in which no bundle peak is observed.
Furthermore, electron energy-loss spectroscopy shows an unusually low 
plasmon energy, meaning dielectric
screening from tube-tube interactions is insignificant. Not only does this suggest a prevalence of small bundles
but it also indicates that the optical properties of the VA-SWNT array are determined by the one-dimensional
nature of the component SWNTs, rather than the bulk dimensions of the entire SWNT film.
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