A lithium-ion battery anode is provided. The lithium-ion battery anode comprises a carbon nanotube three-dimensional network structure formed by a plurality of carbon nanotubes intertwined with each other. A plurality of nano-silicon particles coated with amorphous carbon, dispersed in the carbon nanotube three-dimensional network structure, and adhered to surfaces of the plurality of carbon nanotubes. The amorphous carbon is obtained by calcining a positively charged carbonizable polymer. And a carbon nanotube functional layer located on two opposite surfaces of the carbon nanotube three-dimensional network structure, to make the carbon nanotube three-dimensional network structure located between two carbon nanotube functional layers. The carbon nanotube functional layer comprises at least two super-aligned carbon nanotube films stacked and crossed with each other.

A method for providing a substrate made of a porous carbonaceous material with vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, the method having a first step of depositing a ceramic underlayer on the substrate followed by a second step of synthesizing, by catalytic chemical vapour deposition, the vertically aligned carbon nanotubes on the substrate obtained after the first step, the carbon source necessary for the synthesis during this second step being injected in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate and at a pressure less than 8104 Pa (800 mbar). The use of the substrate for preparing an electrode such as a supercapacitor electrode.

The invention has for its object to provide an aqueous solution for structural separation capable of acting on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) having a specific structure thereby separating them with high accuracy, a separation and recovery method capable of allowing the aqueous solution to act on CNTs having a specific structure thereby separating and recovering them, and CNTs obtained by the separation and recovery method. According to the invention, it is possible to separate CNTs having a specific structure with high accuracy by solubilizing lithocholic acid or a lithocolic acid isomer that has high hydrophobicity and is insoluble in water by itself, and a carbon nanotube obtained by using an aqueous solution containing lithocholic acid or a lithocholic acid isomer, each solubilized, as an aqueous solution for structural separation of CNTs.

A method for producing a semiconducting SWCNT dispersion of the present invention comprises: a step A of preparing a to-be-separated SWCNT dispersion that includes a SWCNT mixture, an aqueous medium, and a polymer including a structural unit A derived from a monomer represented by Formula (1), and a step B of centrifuging the to-be-separated SWCNT dispersion and subsequently collecting a supernatant including the semiconducting SWCNT from the centrifuged to-be-separated SWCNT dispersion. The weight-average molecular weight of the polymer is 1,000 or more and 100,000 or less.

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A method for making a carbon nanotube composite structure includes the following steps: dispersing a plurality of carbon nanotubes in water, to form a carbon nanotube dispersion; adding an aniline solution into the carbon nanotube dispersion, to form a mixed solution; adding an initiator into the mixed solution, to form a carbon nanotube composite structure preform; freeze-drying the carbon nanotube composite structure preform in a vacuum environment; and carbonizing the carbon nanotube composite structure preform in a protective gas after freeze-drying. The present application also relates to the carbon nanotube composite structure.

The present application pertains to dispersions comprising oxidized, discrete carbon nanotubes and high-surface area carbon nanotubes. The oxidized, discrete carbon nanotubes comprise an interior and exterior surface, each surface comprising an interior surface oxidized species content and an exterior surface oxidized species content. The interior surface oxidized species content differs from the exterior surface oxidized species content by at least 20%, and as high as 100%. The high-surface area nanotubes are generally single-wall nanotubes. The BET surface area of the high-surface area nanotubes is from about 550 m.sup.2/g to about 1500 m.sup.2/g according to ASTM D6556-16. The aspect ratio is at least about 500 up to about 6000. The dispersions comprise from about 0.1 to about 30% by weight nanotubes based on the total weight of the dispersion.

The present teachings provide methods for providing populations of single-walled carbon nanotubes that are substantially monodisperse in terms of diameter, electronic type, and/or chirality. Also provided are single-walled carbon nanotube populations provided thereby and articles of manufacture including such populations.

The present invention discloses a method for efficiently dispersing carbon nanotubes. The method comprises mixing, in parts by mass, 1-30 parts of carbon nanotubes, 0.2-10 parts of functionalized carbon nanotubes and 400-1200 parts of a solvent, adjusting the pH of the resulting mixture to 5-9, and then ultrasonically dispersing the mixture to obtain a stably dispersed carbon nanotube dispersion; the functionalized carbon nanotube is one or more of a carboxylated carbon nanotube, a hydroxylated carbon nanotube, an aminated carbon nanotube, an acyl-chlorinated carbon nanotube, and a sulfonated carbon nanotube.

An electrolysis electrode includes a metal-doped array of nanotubes formed on a substrate. The nanotube array (NTA) may be a stabilized metal-doped black TiO.sub.2 NTA formed on a titanium substrate, and the metal dopant may include any suitable metal, for example, cobalt. The metal dopant improves the reactivity of the electrode and enhances its service life. The metal-doped NTA electrode may provide improved chlorine evolution and/or oxygen evolution activity for electrochemical wastewater treatment. The electrode may also be useful for water splitting applications. Increasing the loading of the metal dopant may lead to the formation of a metal oxide layer on top of the NTA, which improves oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotential.

The present invention proposes a process for purifying raw carbon nanotubes to obtain an content in metallic impurities comprised between 5 ppm and 200 ppm. The process includes an increase in the bulk density of the raw carbon nanotubes via compacting to produce compacted carbon nanotubes. The process further includes sintering the compacted carbon nanotubes by undergoing thermal treatment under gaseous atmosphere in order to remove at least a portion of the metallic impurities contained in the raw carbon nanotubes, and consequently producing purified carbon nanotubes. These purified carbon nanotubes are directly usable as electronic conductors serving as basis additive to an electrode material without requiring any subsequent purification step. The electrode material can then be used to manufacture an electrode destined to a lithium-ion battery.