Abstract:
Results are presented from studies to prepare carbon nanotubes of single geometry.
Carbon nanotubes of certain stereochemistry have been found to be conductive. Others have been
found to be excellent transistors, and together nanoelectronic devices have already been formed from
them including logic gate circuits. Two synthetic approaches have been tried, namely plasma arcing
in the presence of additives and ball milling. In plasma arcing, cathode deposits are altered by the
presence of naphthalene in the feed material The mixture of nanotubes so formed has a larger
average void size than that formed in the absence of naphthalene. The results support proposed
mechanisms of nanotube formation which involve growth by incorporation of carbon atoms into
open tubes. They also show that naphthalene can be directly incorporated into fullerene black and
thereby increase the number of hexagonal sheet structures in the carbon deposit. Work so far in ball
milling has been confined to studies of the destruction of graphite crystalline phases.
