High‐Efficiency Separation of Near‐Zigzag Single‐Chirality Carbon Nanotubes by Gel Chromatography

Abstract

High‐efficiency production of near‐zigzag single‐chirality single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is of great importance for their property study and applications. The key to separate near‐zigzag single‐chirality SWCNTs by gel chromatography is to selectively adsorb them in the gel medium. In this study, by using a high surfactant ratio of sodium dodecyl sulfate and sodium cholate (≥4:1) to modulate the selective adsorption of distinct (n, m) SWCNTs in a gel column, a high enrichment of near‐zigzag SWCNTs adsorbed in the gel column is achieved, which usually have a low abundance in raw materials due to their low growth efficiency. Afterward, (7, 3), (8, 3), (8, 4), (9, 1), and (9, 2) single‐chirality SWCNTs are separated with small chiral angles less than 17° by following a stepwise elution for their selective desorption. This simple and efficient separation technique will promote the research and application of near‐zigzag SWCNTs.