Synthesis of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films with Large Area and High Purity by Arc-Discharge

A novel method to synthesize single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films with large area and high purity was introduced. An arc-discharge facility was improved by adding two graphite plates to the electrodes to form a spherical cap capacitor in the vacuum cavity so that an additional electric field of appropriate intensity could be generated. Using this new facility, single-walled carbon nanotube films of different thicknesses ranging from a few microns to a millimeter (controlled by the discharge time) were synthesized on a spherical cathode graphite plate. The film structures were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results show that this is an efficient way to produce single-walled carbon nanotube films of high purity.