Controlled slicing of single walled carbon nanotubes under continuous flow

Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are sliced with control over their length distribution within a laser irradiated dynamic thin film in a vortex fluidic device (VFD) operating under continuous flow conditions. Length control depends on the laser pulse energy, the flow rate of the liquid entering the device, the speed of the rapidly rotating tube and its tilt angle, choice of solvent and concentration of the as received SWCNTs. The induced mechanoenergy in the thin film while being simultaneously irradiated with a Nd:YAG pulsed laser operating at 1064 nm wavelength results in the slicing, with laser pulse energies of 250, 400 and 600 mJ affording 700, 300 and 80 nm length distributions of SWCNTs respectively. The processing avoids the need for using any other reagents, is scalable under continuous flow conditions, and does not introduce defects into the side walls of the SWCNTs.