Metal/semiconductor separation of single-wall carbon nanotubes by selective adsorption and desorption for agarose gel

Metallic and semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were separated by selective adsorption and desorption using agarose gel beads and SWCNTs/sodium dodecyl sulfate dispersion. Comparison to the batch method, the purities of metallic and semiconducting SWCNTs obtained by a column method were improved to 90 and 95%, respectively. When linear-gradient elution was applied to the column method, semiconducting SWCNTs and presumed mixed bundles could be separated into early- and late-eluted fractions, respectively. In the semiconducting fractions, chirality separation was also detected. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim