Selective production of armchair-type carbon nanotubes

The dependence of the frontier electron density in single-walled armchair and zigzag tubes on the electric field, of which the radius and length are nearly equal, was compared using numerical simulation. A short single-walled nanotubes (SWNT) with two open ends was set up, and the frontier electron density was measured at both ends. It was found that in the range from 9.0 to 1.5 V/nm, the frontier density of both ends of armchair tubes was greater than that of the zigzag tubes. The results show that it is possible to promote the growth of the armchair tubes by a static electric field.