Large diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes obtained by pulsed laser vaporization.

We found that the addition of FeS to C:Ni:Co targets and/or H[sub2] to a process gas (Ar) results in the efficient growth of large diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) under pulsed laser vaporization conditions. The addition of both FeS and H2 has a particularly strong effect, shifting the tube diameters to the range of ∼2–5.6 nm. As prepared SWNT materials were characterized by SEM, HRTEM, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]