We studied the oxygen etching of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes on silicon oxide substrates using atomic force microscopy and high-temperature environmental scanning electron microscopy. Our in situ observations show that carbon nanotubes are not progressively etched from their ends, as frequently assumed, but disappear segment by segment. Atomic force microscopy, before and after oxidation, reveals that the oxidation of carbon nanotubes on substrates proceeds through a local cutting that is followed by a rapid etching of the disconnected nanotube segment. Unexpectedly, semiconducting nanotubes appear more reactive under these conditions than metallic ones. We also show that exposure to electron and laser beams locally increases the chemical reactivity of carbon nanotubes on such substrates. These results are rationalized by considering the effect of substrate-trapped charges on the nanotube density of states close to the Fermi level, which is impacted by the substrate type and the exposure to electron and laser beams.

Polymers typically have intrinsic thermal conductivity much lower than other materials. Enhancement of this property may be obtained by the addition of conductive fillers. In this research, epoxy nanocomposites with exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets are prepared and characterized. The chosen approach requires no surface treatment and no sophisticated equipments allowing one to produce composites on a pilot scale. A significant increase of the thermal conductivity with the increasing of the graphite fillers content is nevertheless observed on 4 mm thick specimens. Our results viewed in the latest scientific findings suggest that the choice of resin is an important parameter to move towards composite materials with high thermal conductivity.

Nano-objects would be of great interest for the development of new types of electronic circuits if one could combine their nanometer scale with original functionalities beyond the conventional transistor action. However, the associated circuit architectures will have to handle the increasing variability and defect rate intrinsic to the nanoscale. In this context, there is a very fast growing interest for memory devices, and in particular resistive memory devices, used as building blocks in reconfigurable circuits tolerant to defects and variability. It was recently shown that optically gated carbon nanotube field effect transistors (OG-CNTFETs) based on large assemblies of nanotubes covered by an organic photoconductive thin film can be operated as programmable resistors and thus used as artificial synapses in circuits with function-learning capabilities. Here, the potential of such approach is evaluated in terms of scalability by integrating and addressing several individually programmable resistances on a single carbon nanotube. In addition, the charge storage mechanism can be controlled at a length scale smaller than the device length allowing to also program the direction in which the current flows. It thus demonstrates that a single nanotube section can combine all-in-one the properties of an analog resistive memory and of a rectifying diode with tunable polarity.

This paper reviews transmission electron microscopy studies, combining high resolution imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy, of the nucleation and growth of carbon single wall nanotubes with a particular emphasis on the nanotubes obtained from the evaporation-based elaboration techniques. Inspection of samples obtained from different synthesis routes shows that in all cases nanotubes are found to emerge from catalyst particles and that they have grown perpendicular or parallel to the surface according to whether they have been synthesized via evaporation-based methods or CCVD methods. Whereas the latter case corresponds to the well-known situation of carbon filaments growth, the former case strongly suggests another formation and growth process, which is described and its different steps discussed in detail. In this model, formation of the nanotubes proceeds via solvation of carbon into liquid metal droplets, followed by precipitation, at the surface of the particles, of excess carbon in the form of nanotubes through a nucleation and root growth process. It is argued that the nucleation of the nanotubes, which compete with the formation of graphene sheets wrapping the surface of the particle, necessarily results from a surface instability induced by. the conditions of segregation. The nature and the origin of this instability was studied in the case of the class of catalyst Ni-R.E. (R.E. = Y, La, Ce,...) in order to identify the influence of the nature of the catalyst. The respective roles played by Ni and R.E. have been identified. It is shown that carbon and rear-earth co-segregate and self-assemble at the surface of the particle in order to form a surface layer destabilizing the formation of graphene sheets and providing nucleation sites for nanotubes growing perpendicular to the surface. (C) 2003 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Macroscopic fibers of single-wall carbon nanotube bundles were generated in an electric arc experiment in carbon monoxide helium mixtures. The fibers have diameters between 0.1 and 0.5 mm and reached length,, up to 2.5 cm. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy shocked that the fibers consist predominantly of bundles of single wall carbon nanotube and metal particles but very little contamination of other carbon products. X-ray diffraction measurements suggest a preferable orientation of the nanotubes along the fiber axis.

We report on C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance from 10 up to 350 K on single wall carbon nanotubes. The magic angle spinning NMR spectrum shows one isotropic line at 126 ppm and the static spectrum a powder pattern typical for a curved graphene sheet. The T dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate T-1(-1) reveals an unusual phenomenon which could be explained by thermally activated small amplitude motion (SAM) of the nanotubes. If above 170 K, diffusion of twistons might be responsible for the local SAM of the C-13 sites, below this transition temperature frozen in twistons could appear with an orientational order of the nanotubes in the ropes.