Length sorting cut single wall carbon nanotubes by high performance liquid chromatography

Semi-preparative, HPLC based, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was used to length sort single wall carbon nanotubes previously cut by an acid based process. In contrast to prior reports of nanotube length separation by gravity fed SEC, mean nanotube lengths in the present study were shorter than the controlled pore glass media pore diameter used (400 nm). The results indicate that prep scale HPLC can provide a viable method for efficient length separation with good resolution. Features observed in the chromatogram are attributed to a dependence of the light scattering efficiency on the lengths of the nanotubes relative to the wavelength of the light used for detection. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.