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News Release 06-144
Researchers Develop Method to Sort Carbon Nanotubes by Size and Electrical Properties
Method could make better batches for commercial applications
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Single-walled carbon nanotubes are coated in soap-like molecules called surfactants, then spun at tens of thousands of rotations per minute in an ultracentrifuge. The resulting density gradient sorts the nanotubes according to diameter, twist and electronic structure.
Credit: Zina Deretsky (adapted from Arnold et al.), National Science Foundation
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