I have annealed MWCNTs for 2 hours at 400oC and then stirred them for 2 hours in isopropyl alcohol and sonicated for 30 minutes. Through this treatment, I have got a stable suspension of MWCNTs which I spin coated on the various substrates. The idea is that MWCNTs are disentangled and the Raman spectrum show all the peaks from MWCNTs, however I am not able to take an AFM image of the individual MWCNTs. As a matter of fact I don't see any tubular structure or dots or whatsoever. I am wondering, have I destroyed them during the treatment and all I have just graphene powder on my substrates or do my AFM needs some different settings. Thanks
Muhammad Azeem My answer is no. You’ve destroyed them by heating to 400C in air. Sonication can also break them and introduce impurities.
Hello Muhammad Azeem ,
I think you need to find balance between cleaning and destroying CNT. CNT should be more stable than some standard organic impurities so it is possible. Here it is short and clear paper where author said that he succeeded with OR plasma annealing:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1431927605506561
No , they get oxidized at 400C in air....
dont anneal them beyond 200C
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