Optical Absorption and Raman Spectroscopy Study of the Fluorinated Double‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Double‐wall carbon nanotube (DWNT) samples have been fluorinated at room temperature with varied concentration of a fluorinating agent BrF₃. Content of the products estimated from X‐ray photoelectron data was equal to CF_0.20 and CF_0.29 in the case of deficit and excess of BrF₃. Raman spectroscopy showed considerable decrease of carbon nanotube amount in the fluorinated samples. Analysis of optical absorption spectra measured for pristine and fluorinated DWNT samples revealed a selectivity of carbon nanotube fluorination. Nanotubes with large chiral angle are more inert to the fluorinating agent used.

Keywords:

• Fluorination
• carbon nanotubes
• optical spectroscopy

Acknowledgment

We are thankful to O.G. Abrosimov for the TEM image and to E.M. Pazhetnov for the XPS data. The work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 03‐03‐32286).