Phase separation of Lal3 inside single-walled carbon nanotubes

Simple binary solids can be found to adopt unprecedented structures when confined into nanometre-sized cavities, such as the inner cylindrical bore of single-walled carbon nonotubes (SWNT). In the case of the discussed Lal(x)@SWNT encapsulation composite, the Lal(2) crystal fragment adopts the structure of bulk Lal(3), with one third of the iodine positions unoccupied. A complete characterisation of the encapsulation composite was achieved using on enhanced digital restoration approach of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images. The resulting complex exit surface wave provides information about the precise structural data of both filling material and host SWNT establishing the SWNT's chirality and thus enabling a prediction of the composite's overall electron-transport properties.