High-speed countercurrent chromatography for purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes

A new chromatographic purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes using high-speed countercurrent chromatography is reported. The purification was accomplished on the basis of experiment that dispersed the single-walled carbon nanotubes with sodium dodecyl sulfate, and the result mixture was separated using the two phase system composed of n-butanol/water = 1/1 (v/v). The sizes of SWNTs separated were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that the high-speed countercurrent chromatography possessed a good efficency for purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes.