Rapid and Efficient Organic-Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction of High-Purity Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) are promising building blocks for next-generation nanoelectronics, yet their widespread application remains limited by the lack of rapid, scalable, and high-yield purification methods. Here, we report a rapid organic-aqueous two-phase extraction (OATPE) strategy for the efficient purification of sc-SWCNTs. By combining conjugated-polymer-assisted pre-sorting with an interfacial extraction step, OATPE effectively removes metallic SWCNTs while preserving the structural integrity of the semiconducting nanotubes. Compared with the conventional multi-cycle purification process, the proposed method reduces the purification time from approximately 3 h to 1 h, increases the estimated purification yield from ∼2.5% to ∼6.1%, and better preserves the nanotube length. The strategy is applicable to SWCNTs from different synthesis routes, including arc-discharge, HiPco, and CoMoCAT materials. Large-scale transistor arrays fabricated from the purified sc-SWCNTs exhibit excellent electrical performance, and statistical analysis of approximately 2000 devices indicates an estimated semiconducting purity exceeding 99.9999%. This work provides a rapid, efficient, and scalable purification strategy for producing high-quality semiconducting SWCNTs for future electronic applications.