The effects of acid treatment methods on the diameter dependent length separation of single walled carbon nanotubes

The effects of acid treatment methods on the diameter dependent length separation of single walled carbon nanotubes were investigated using gel electrophoresis and Raman spectroscopic techniques. Carbon nanotubes were chemically treated using a mixture of H2SO4 and HNO3. The mechanism of gel electrophoresis is based on the migration of charged particles in an electric field, and the gel matrix acts as a sieve for the analyte. A comparative Raman spectroscopy analysis, performed on the migrated nanotubes in the gel, demonstrated that smaller diameter tubes were preferentially shortened by the acid treatments and moved farther during the gel electrophoresis.