High-Fidelity Single Column Separation of Semiconducting Swcnts Using Agarose Gel

The synthesis of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) yields a complex mixture of species with different properties defined by their (n,m) type. The coexistence of SWCNTs with varied bandgaps hinders their application, especially in high performance electronic devices. Over the past decade, the post-synthetic separation of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has been studied with great interest. While high-fidelity separations of semiconducting (s-) SWCNTs by their (n,m) type have been demonstrated, a simple, high-throughput method is still desired. Here we report the selective desorption of a wide range of single-chirality (n,m) fractions in a single column packed with agarose gel. High-purity fractions of (n,m) nanotubes are obtained with high yield once a specific ratio of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/sodium deoxycholate (DOC) co-surfactant solution is used. The differences between the co-surfactant ratios needed to separate two (n,m) species can sometime be very small. The separation can be obtained under a wide variety of co-surfactant background concentrations. However, better separations are achieved at higher background concentrations.