Study on the detection behavior of defect-rich single-walled carbon nanotubes toward perchlorate

Abstract

Defect-rich single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared by a water vapor flow-assisted chemical vapor deposition process. The correlation between defect density and water flow was quantitively studied using Raman spectrum. The detection capabilities of defective SWCNTs films toward perchlorate anions were investigated. It was found the defect-rich SWCNTs could adsorb more perchlorate anions owing to the strong chemical bonding between anions and defective sites. However, the detective response of defective SWCNTs toward perchlorate was not in compliance with anion adsorption. A tradeoff phenomenon between response and adsorption was found as the defect density of SWCNTs increased. This work is expected to provide a guidance to the future design of SWCNTs based ion detector.