High-Tc superconductivity in entirely end-bonded multi-walled carbon nanotubes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that entirely end-bonded multi-walled carbon nanotubes can exhibit superconductivity at temperatures up to 12K, significantly higher than single-walled nanotubes, with the phenomenon highly dependent on junction structure and shell activation.

Contribution

It reveals that end-bonded MWNTs with optimal shell activation exhibit high-temperature superconductivity due to inter-shell effects, a novel finding in nanotube research.

Findings

Superconductivity observed at Tc up to 12K in end-bonded MWNTs

Superconductivity is sensitive to junction structure and shell activation

Superconductivity is approximately 40 times higher than in single-walled nanotubes

Abstract

We report that entirely end-bonded multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) can show superconductivity with the transition temperature Tc as high as 12K that is approximately 40-times larger than those reported in ropes of single-walled nanotubes. We find that emergence of this superconductivity is very sensitive to junction structures of Au electrode/MWNTs. This reveals that only MWNTs with optimal numbers of electrically activated shells, which are realized by the end-bonding, can allow the superconductivity due to inter shell effects.