Internally sealed compartments

BN nanotube and Ta/B/N catalytic particle

BN nanotube and Ta/B/N catalytic particle

SSingle wall nanotubes 1.4nm diam Thess et al Nature

1.4nm

Tip of MW-WS2-NT

Ta-B-N crystalline catalytic particle Inflation zone

SiO2 coated cobalt particle

An apparently almost perfect MW MS2 NT

TEM image of NCNT bundle

BN nanotube and Ta/B/N catalytic particle

Ta/B/N crystalline catalytic particles BN nanotubes

BN nanotube produced in an arc using a BN/Ta cathode

Ta-B-N crystalline catalytic particle Amorphous BN material Enters into the crystalline phase

Ta-B-N crystalline catalytic particle Segregation zone

Ta-B-N crystalline catalytic particle Inflation zone

Ta-B-N crystalline catalytic particle 3-wall BN nanotube

An apparently almost perfect MW MS2 NT

SiO2 coated cobalt particle

Iron particle catalysed MW-CNT

Nitrogen Doped CNTs

A suggested mechanism of formation for single walled carbon nanotubes They are formed by laser ablation/deposition of graphite in the presence Ni/Co The diameter is fairly uniform ca 1.4nm The conditions are the same as for the formation of C60 so it is present in the system

General Research Strategy at Sussex What fundamental information about nanotube formation can we deduce from their structures and the catalytic particles that create them?

SWNTs Possible Formation mechanism catalyst - C60 covered in Ni and Co Explains 1.4nm diameter observed

Ferrocene interplanar distance 3.4 nm

1nm Cross-sectional view of a bundle of single walled nanotubes with C60 molecules inside (Thess et al)

1nm C60 molecules inside a single walled nanotube Smith, Monthioux and Luzzi Nature 1998