Coalescence of carbon nanotubes while preserving the chiral angles

Akira Takakura, Taishi Nishihara, Koji Harano, Ovidiu Cretu, Takeshi Tanaka, Hiromichi Kataura and Yuhei Miyauchi ()
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Akira Takakura: Kyoto University
Taishi Nishihara: Kyoto University
Koji Harano: National Institute for Materials Science
Ovidiu Cretu: National Institute for Materials Science
Takeshi Tanaka: AIST
Hiromichi Kataura: AIST
Yuhei Miyauchi: Kyoto University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Atomically precise coalescence of graphitic nanocarbon molecules is one of the most challenging reactions in sp2 carbon chemistry. Here, we demonstrate that two carbon nanotubes with the same chiral indices (n, m) are efficiently coalesced into a single (2n, 2 m) nanotube with preserved chiral angles via heat treatment at less than 1000 °C. The (2n, 2 m) nanotubes constitute up to ≈ 20%–40% of the final sample in the most efficient case. Additional optical absorption peaks of the (2n, 2 m) nanotubes emerge, indicating that the reaction occurs over the entire sample. The reaction efficiency strongly depends on the chiral angle, implying that C–C bond cleavage and recombination occurs sequentially. Furthermore, the reaction occurs efficiently even at 600 °C in an atmosphere containing trace amounts of oxygen. These findings offer routes for the structure-selective synthesis of large-diameter nanotubes and modification of the properties of nanotube assemblies via postprocessing.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56389-6

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