METHOD FOR PRODUCING CARBON NANORING

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for efficiently obtaining circular carbon nanotubes from carbon nanotubes. SOLUTION: Single-walled carbon nanotubes are cut to prepare open-end carbon nanotubes each having reactive functional groups capable of forming chemical bonds by cross reactions at both ends in such a way that open-end carbon nanotubes each of whose length is about 2 times the persistence length of each of the single-walled carbon nanotubes are included. The prepared open- end carbon nanotubes are dispersed in a solvent, each of the open-end carbon nanotubes is cyclized by bonding both ends to each other by way of the reactive functional groups and the resulting bonds are decomposed by heat-treating the cyclized carbon nanotubes to produce the objective circular carbon nanotubes. The reactive functional groups are, e.g. carboxy and hydroxy groups and are bonded using a dicyclohexylcarbodiimide as a coupling agent.