Temperature-dependent oxidation of carbon nanotubes for metal/semiconductor separation

Speculated temperature has induced/reversed the oxidation of SDS-dispersed SWCNTs in water, in which the oxidation triggers the reorganization of SDS structure on SWCNTs to afford selective adsorption in gel chromatography. Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to elucidate how the oxidation affects the assembly of SDS structure on a SWCNT. We found the formation of higher-density SDS coatings over oxidized SWCNT than unoxidized SWCNT, which implies the temperature-dependent oxidation enables the metal/semiconductor (M/S) separation of SWCNTs.