Bending single-walled carbon nanotubes into nanorings using a Pickering emulsion-based process

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) nanorings have been fabricated on a large scale using a Pickering emulsion-based process. The formation mechanism was attributed to liquid/liquid interface-induced SWCNT bending. Mechanical analysis shows that curved water/1,2-dichlorobenzene interface created during the miniemulsion process is sufficient to bend the SWCNT into closed rings. Raman spectroscopy was used to study SWCNT structural change after the nanoring formation. It was shown that compressive and tensile strains were introduced in these rings. We anticipate that a variety of functionalized SWCNT nanorings can be fabricated using our method for various applications.