Determination of the length of single-walled carbon nanotubes by scanning electron microscopy
Sandoval, Stefania (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona)
Kierkowicz, Magdalena (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona)
Pach, Elzbieta (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia)
Ballesteros, Belén (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia)
Tobias, Gerard (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona)

Date:	2018
Abstract:	A methodology is presented to determine the length of well individualized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Accurate measurements on wide areas of the sample can be achieved in an easy, fast and trustworthy manner. We have tested several supports and solvents to optimize the dispersion of SWCNTs, as well as the SEM imaging conditions. The optimal methodology goes via dispersion of the sample in ortho-dichlorobenzene, deposition onto a continuous carbon film supported on a copper TEM grid, and SEM imaging at 2 kV in secondary electrons mode using a through-in-lens detector. • Individualization of SWCNTs is achieved by dispersion of SWCNTs in ortho-dichlorobenzene and deposition onto TEM grids• Individual SWCNTs are imaged by SEM• Length determination by SEM is as precise as AFM.
Grants:	European Commission 290023 European Commission 708351 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2015-0496 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2013-0295
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Dispersion ; Length distribution ; Shortening ; Cutting ; Atomic force microscopy
Published in:	MethodsX, Vol. 5 (2018) , p. 1465-1472, ISSN 2215-0161

DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2018.11.004
PMID: 30505700

8 p, 2.0 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles