Aligned High Density Semi-Conductive Ultra-Small Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Zeolite type material (AlPO-5, AFI-type) with rod-like morphology and mono-dimensional channel system running along the long crystal axis was vertically grown on a stainless-steel plate. The organic template used in the synthesis was carbonized to generate single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Thus, SWCNTs with a diameter of 0.4 nm, perfectly aligned and vertically oriented to the support surface with a density of 2.6 x 10(5) SWCNTs mu m(-2), were obtained. The free end of AlPO-5 crystal was chemically etched in order to create contact surface and measure the conductivity of SWCNT@AlPO-5 film which was found to be 4.16 x 10(-1) omega(-1) cm(-1). This approach of aligned SWCNTs can be applied to different types of substrates, thus opening the road to practical uses of SWCNTs.