Simple preparation of self-organized single-walled carbon nanotubes with honeycomb structures

It is reported that the self-assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes with a honey comb structures is spontaneous on solid substrates by simple solution casting of a SWNT-lipid conjugate (complex-1). The optical microscopic observations of the films cast from complex-1 was conducted in dichloromethane, chloroform, and toluene in air at 48-90% relative humidity (RH). The assembled microporous structures were formed from concentrations over 0.5 mg mL ^-1 at greater than 63% RH. The higher RH led to the formation of micropores with large diameters, while the size of micropores decreased with the increasing concentration of complex 1. The solvents with higher boiling temperatures produced micropores with large diameters, determining the importance of the evaporating speed. The results of experiment show that the honeycomb structures of SWNT are successfully formed from a simple solution casting process at higher RH using a s-SWNT-lipid conjugate as the material.