Electrical and thermal properties of C60-filled single-wall carbon nanotubes

J. Vavro, M. C. Llaguno, B. C. Satishkumar, D. E. Luzzi, J. E. Fischer
2002 Applied Physics Letters  
We report measurements of electrical resistivity, thermopower, and thermal conductivity of highly C 60 -filled single-wall carbon nanotubes and unfilled controls, from 1.5 to 300 K. The data suggest that the C 60 chains provide additional conductive paths for charge carriers, increase the rate of phonon scattering, and block interior sites from sorbing other gas molecules. Single-wall carbon nanotubes ͑SWNT͒ filled with C 60 were discovered by Smith et al. 1 These "peapods" generally occur as
more » ... ghly ordered long chains with the same ϳ10 Å intermolecular spacing as in the fcc solid. Short clusters of 2-20 fullerenes are sometimes found. C 60 -C 60 and C 60 -SWNT interactions are expected to influence structure, dynamics, and electronic properties. 2,3 Elucidation of the growth mechanism 4 provided the basis for rational synthesis of highly filled samples. 5 This in turn enables the study of their physical properties, about which little is known. C 60 is a strong electrophile, so one might expect the surrounding tubes to become hole doped. However, theory predicts only weak occupancy of a quasi-one-dimensional ͑1D͒ band derived from a chain of C 60 lowest unoccupied molecular ͑LUMO͒ orbitals. 3 In the only experiment published to date, Hirahara et al. found that the electrical resistance diverged more steeply with decreasing T than for unfilled SWNT. 6 This was attributed to carrier scattering by the local electrostatic potential from ͑presumably charged͒ fullerenes. No absolute values were given. Here we report temperature dependence of electrical resistivity , thermal conductivity , and thermoelectric power or Seebeck coefficient S, measured on buckypapers of highly filled and control samples, 5 the only difference being the absence of C 60 in the reaction tube during the filling step. The average tube diameter is around 1.3 nm. Transmission electron micrographs of the filled sample show a preponderance of well-ordered nanotube ropes filled with C 60 molecules. Weight uptake measurements reveal a filling fraction of 90%. 5 Measurements of (T) were carried out from 1.5 to 300 K in helium vapor. Filled and control samples for all measurements were cut from the same buckypaper. These were vacuum degassed at 800°C for 1 h in dynamic vacuum (5 ϫ10 Ϫ6 Torr) and then exposed to air for about an hour during transfer to the cryostat. Adsorbed oxygen acts as a p-type dopant in nanotubes. [7] [8] [9] The effect on at saturation is only about 25% 7 but much more dramatic on S ͑see later͒. The results are shown in Fig. 1 . The overall T dependence is nonmetallic for both, while the low T upturn in is strongly reduced in the filled sample. The ratio (empty)/(filled)
doi:10.1063/1.1452788 fatcat:dsnwrmmxgbcudhkh3gfqetvcha