Temperature-Dependent Growth of 36 Inner Nanotubes inside Nickelocene, Cobaltocene and Ferrocene-Filled Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

We have investigated the effects of temperature, diameter and metal catalyst type on the growth of inner nanotubes inside metallocene-filled single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The effects on the yield of different chiralities of inner nanotubes were scrutinized by multifrequency Raman spectroscopy. The investigated diameters range from ~0.7 to 1.3 nm and comprise 36 distinct chiralities. For all three investigated metals (Ni, Co, Fe), there is a linear correlation of growth temperature with nanotube diameter. The common slope for these metals is found to be 40.5 °C/Å. The temperature difference between the largest and the smallest diameter tubes amounts to ~230 °C for all three precursors. The growth temperatures are offset by 34 °C from Ni to Co and another 28 °C from Co to Fe. The quantified correlations of temperature, diameter and metal catalyst type provide the basis for engineering the diameter-specific growth of nanotubes.