Structural Changes in Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Strands Induced by Ultraviolet Laser Irradiation

Abstract

Centimeters-long double-walled carbon nanotube strands were irradiated by a 355 nm pulsed laser. Multiwalled carbon nanofibers, hollow and solid onion-like nanoparticles, were found to be changed from DWNTs, induced by UV laser irradiation. As-grown Fe catalysts were also found to aggregate and were conveniently able to be removed by a dilute HCl solution. The structural changes in the DWNTs strand depend importantly on the laser energy input. On the basis of high-resolution transmission electronic microscope (HRTEM) observations, we propose a process of the structural change.