Observations of Nanobubble Formation on Carbon Nanotubes

Published

May 28, 2010

Author(s)

Andrew J. Slifka, Damian S. Lauria, Gurpreet Singh, Roop L. Mahajan

Abstract

We used an optical trap and a high-speed camera to image bubble initiation on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The laser wavelength was 1064 nm and the average power was 100 mW. This is the first demonstration of bubble formation on individual nanotubes. Most, but not all, nanotubes exhibited bubble formation. Bubbles both grew from and collapsed down to submicron size. Bubbles grew at the point where the laser heated a given nanotube, rather than at the site of an impurity or defect in the nanotube, which might be likely because the high thermal conductivity along the tube should have allowed heat to transfer to a resistive defect or impurity. This leaves the issue open as to whether heating is due to a plasmon resonance rather than simple heat absorption.

Citation

Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)

Volume

3

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

boiling, bubble, carbon nanotube, plasmon resonance

Citation

Slifka, A. , Lauria, D. , Singh, G. and Mahajan, R. (2010), Observations of Nanobubble Formation on Carbon Nanotubes, Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics), [online], https://doi.org/10.1143/APEX.3.065103 (Accessed March 19, 2025)