Structure and Vibrational Properties of Multi‐walled Carbon Nanotubes Irradiated with High‐energy Electrons

Abstract

We performed investigations of the changes occurring in the crystalline structure and Raman spectra of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes during high‐energy electron irradiation (E_e  =  1.8 MeV) with absorbed doses between 3.0 and 10.0 MGy. It is shown that the formation of radiation‐induced damage is accompanied by an increase in the interlayer correlations as a consequence of interlayer cross‐linking and local variations in the geometry of the multi‐walled carbon nanotubes. Generation of radiation‐induced defects and difference in the mechanisms of their annealing leads to a drop in the integrated intensity of the Raman G‐ and D‐bands as well as a component splitting of the G‐band. It suggests that new vibrational modes appear with an increase of fluence. These modes result from the reconstruction of the structure and geometry of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes and, hence, their symmetry.

Keywords:

• Multi‐walled carbon nanotubes
• Electron irradiation
• Crystal structure
• Raman scattering

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Yu.I.P. is grateful to DFG (German Research Foundation) for support.