Thermal stability and structural changes of double-walled carbon nanotubes by heat treatment

We describe, for the first time, the sequential structural changes of bundles of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) as a function of heat treatment temperature. DWNTs (inner diameters >0.9 nm) are structurally stable up to 2000 °C. Above 2100 °C, the outer walls of adjacent DWNTs start coalescing into large diameter tubes. At temperatures higher than 2100 °C, three different types of structures were observed: (a) large-diameter DWNTs; (b) multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and (c) flaky carbons. The results demonstrate that DWNTs are much more stable than SWNTs, and their stability is comparable to that of MWNTs.