Precise Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes and One-Dimensional Hybrids from Templates†

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) present unique properties determined by their chiral structure. The main hurdle towards the wide applications is the difficulty to control the structure of CNTs and their hybrids that determines the properties. Precise synthesis with well-defined templates is a promising approach to control the identical structure of carbon nanomaterials. In this review, we summarize main achievements on controlled synthesis of CNTs and hybrids on two aspects: chirality-specific growth of CNTs from well-defined catalysts and nanocarbon templates, atomically precise synthesis of one-dimensional (1D) materials with the templates of CNTs. In the chirality-controlled growth part, we focus on the design of structural templates and growth mechanisms. In the synthesis of CNT hybrids part, we organize the existing strategies based on types of 1D hybrids templated by CNTs, including confined nanotubes, linear carbon chains, nanowires, quasi-1D van der-Waals materials. The main advantages, challenges, and perspectives in further development are discussed.