Rapid and Efficient Organic‐Aqueous Two‐Phase Extraction of High‐Purity Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) are promising building blocks for next-generation nanoelectronics, yet their widespread application remains limited by the lack of rapid, scalable, and high-yield purification methods. Here, we report a rapid organic-aqueous two-phase extraction (OATPE) strategy for the efficient purification of sc-SWCNTs. By combining conjugated-polymer-assisted pre-sorting with an interfacial extraction step, OATPE effectively removes metallic SWCNTs while preserving the structural integrity of the semiconducting nanotubes. Compared with the conventional multi-cycle purification process, the proposed method reduces the purification time from approximately 3 h to 1 h, increases the estimated purification yield from ∼2.5% to ∼6.1%, and better preserves the nanotube length. The strategy is applicable to SWCNTs from different synthesis routes, including arc-discharge, HiPco, and CoMoCAT materials. Large-scale transistor arrays fabricated from the purified sc-SWCNTs exhibit excellent electrical performance, and statistical analysis of approximately 2000 devices indicates an estimated semiconducting purity exceeding 99.9999%. This work provides a rapid, efficient, and scalable purification strategy for producing high-quality semiconducting SWCNTs for future electronic applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-09-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.75843
Primary Topic
Carbon Nanotubes in Composites
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Rapid and Efficient Organic‐Aqueous Two‐Phase Extraction of High‐Purity Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Rongbin Xie, Yingnan Yang, Wenshan Li, Xiao Lei et al.
Small
Carbon Nanotubes in Composites
article

Rapid and Efficient Organic‐Aqueous Two‐Phase Extraction of High‐Purity Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Rongbin Xie, Yingnan Yang, Wenshan Li, Xiao Lei, Cheng Li, Kai Wang
article en

Abstract

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) are promising building blocks for next-generation nanoelectronics, yet their widespread application remains limited by the lack of rapid, scalable, and high-yield purification methods. Here, we report a rapid organic-aqueous two-phase extraction (OATPE) strategy for the efficient purification of sc-SWCNTs. By combining conjugated-polymer-assisted pre-sorting with an interfacial extraction step, OATPE effectively removes metallic SWCNTs while preserving the structural integrity of the semiconducting nanotubes. Compared with the conventional multi-cycle purification process, the proposed method reduces the purification time from approximately 3 h to 1 h, increases the estimated purification yield from ∼2.5% to ∼6.1%, and better preserves the nanotube length. The strategy is applicable to SWCNTs from different synthesis routes, including arc-discharge, HiPco, and CoMoCAT materials. Large-scale transistor arrays fabricated from the purified sc-SWCNTs exhibit excellent electrical performance, and statistical analysis of approximately 2000 devices indicates an estimated semiconducting purity exceeding 99.9999%. This work provides a rapid, efficient, and scalable purification strategy for producing high-quality semiconducting SWCNTs for future electronic applications.

Small
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Openalex Percentile: Top 25%
Carbon Nanotubes in Composites
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Rapid and Efficient Organic‐Aqueous Two‐Phase Extraction of High‐Purity Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes — Rongbin Xie, Yingnan Yang, et al. · Small (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS