Are Non-Six-Membered Ring Defects Formed in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Treated by a Fluorination–Defluorination Process?

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) modified by introducing non-six-membered ring defects, such as five- and seven-membered rings, have attracted considerable attention because their conductivity is enhanced by increasing the electronic density of states at the Fermi energy level. However, no preparation method exists to efficiently introduce non-six-membered ring defects into SWCNTs. Herein, we attempt to introduce non-six-membered ring defects into SWCNTs by defect rearrangement of the nanotube framework using a fluorination–defluorination process. Defect-introduced SWCNTs were fabricated from SWCNTs fluorinated at 25 °C for different reaction times. Their structures were evaluated, and their conductivities were measured by operating a temperature program. Structural analysis of the defect-induced SWCNTs using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and visible–near-infrared spectroscopy did not reveal the presence of non-six-membered ring defects in the SWCNTs but indicated the introduction of vacancy defects. Meanwhile, conductivity measurements performed by operating a temperature program showed that the defluorinated SWCNTs prepared from SWCNTs fluorinated for 3 min (deF-RT-3m) exhibited decreased conductivity owing to the adsorption of water molecules to non-six-membered ring defects, thereby implying the possibility of non-six-membered ring defects being introduced into deF-RT-3m.