Diameter-dependent thermal-oxidative stability of single-walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by a floating catalytic chemical vapor deposition method

► The present study reports the continuous synthesis of SWCNTs controllably from ∼1 nm to ∼5 nm. ► Different-diameter SWCNTs present many special properties without any complicated functionalization. ► The thermal-oxidation rate of SWCNTs varies inversely with the tube diameter.