553
Views
18
Crossref
N/A
WoS
17
Scopus
0
CSCD
We present a facile and versatile method for introducing various non-precious metal nanoparticles (NPs) in small nanotubes, such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), including 3d-metals (V, Mn, Fe and Co), 4d-metals (Mo), and 5d-metals (W). This is realized by oxidizing encapsulated cycloalkene metal carbonyl complexes below their sublimation temperatures. This novel technique is significant because it avoids the diffusion and deposition of metal species on the outer walls of nanotubes, which has been challenging to achieve using the conventional filling methods. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed high filling efficiencies (> 95% SWNTs filled with metal NPs). This method also provides a unique approach to fabricate highly dispersed and uniform SWNT–metal nanoparticle encapsulates with lower valence states, which are often not stable in the bulk.
This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFA0202803), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21425312 and 21621063). We thank Dr. Haobo Li for help in drawing the scheme and Dr. Tie Yu for fruitful discussions.