Thermal conversion of bundled carbon nanotubes into graphitic ribbons.

High temperature heat treatment (HTT) of bundled single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in vacuum ( approximately 10(-5) Torr) has been found to lead to the formation of two types of graphitic nanoribbons (GNRs), as observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Purified SWNT bundles were first found to follow two evolutionary steps, as reported previously, that is, tube coalescence (HTT approximately 1400 degrees C) and then massive bond rearrangement (HTT approximately 1600 degrees C), leading to the formation of bundled multiwall nanotubes (MWNTs) with 3-12 shells. At HTT > 1800 degrees C, we find that these MWNTs collapse into multishell GNRs. The first type of GNR we observed is driven by the collapse of diameter-doubled single-wall nanotubes, and their production is terminated at HTT approximately 1600 degrees C when the MWNTs also start to form. We propose that the collapse is driven by van der Waals forces between adjacent tubes in the same bundle. For HTT > 2000 degrees C, the heat-treated material is found to be almost completely in the multishell GNR form.