Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Fabrication, Densification, and Replica Molding of 3D Carbon Nanotube Microstructures
Published on: July 2, 2012
Selective growth of chirality-enriched semiconducting carbon nanotubes by using bimetallic catalysts from salt
Xiulan Zhao1, Feng Yang, Junhan Chen
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. yanli@pku.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Bimetallic catalysts play important roles in the selective growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Using the simple salts (NH4)6W7O24·6H2O and Co(CH3COO)2·4H2O as precursors, tungsten-cobalt catalysts were prepared. The catalysts were composed of W6Co7 intermetallic compounds and tungsten-dispersed cobalt. With the increase of the W/Co ratio in the precursors, the content of W6Co7 was increased. Because the W6Co7 intermetallic compound can enable the chirality specified growth of SWNTs, the selectivity of the resulting SWNTs is improved at a higher W/Co ratio. At a W/Co ratio of 6 : 4 and under optimized chemical vapor deposition conditions, we realized the direct growth of semiconducting SWNTs with the purity of ∼96%, in which ∼62% are (14, 4) tubes. Using salts as precursors to prepare tungsten-cobalt bimetallic catalysts is flexible and convenient. This offers an efficient pathway for the large-scale preparation of chirality enriched semiconducting SWNTs.
More Related Videos
08:40Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
10:19Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Salt Stress
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Determining the pH of Salt Solutions
Chirality in Nature
The Carbon Cycle
Carbon Skeletons