Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) with high graphitization have been synthesized by hydrogen arc discharge. The obtained DWCNTs have a narrow distribution of diameters of both the inner and outer tubes, and more than half of the DWCNTs have inner diameters in the range 0.6-1.0 nm. Field electron emission from a DWCNT cathode to an anode has been measured, and the emission current density of DWCNTs reached 1 A/cm2 at an applied field of about 4.3 V/{\mu}m. After high-temperature treatment of DWCNTs, long linear carbon chains (C-chains) can be grown inside the ultra-thin DWCNTs to form a novel C-chain@DWCNT nanostructure, showing that these ultra-thin DWCNTs are an appropriate nanocontainer for preparing truly one-dimensional nanostructures with one-atom-diameter.
@article{arxiv.1105.2855,
title = {Ultra-Thin Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes A Novel Nanocontainer for Preparing Atomic Wires},
author = {Lei Shi and Leimei Sheng and Liming Yu and Kang An and Yoshinori Ando and Xinluo Zhao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.2855},
year = {2011}
}