Rapid and Efficient Organic‐Aqueous Two‐Phase Extraction of High‐Purity Semiconducting Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Semiconducting single‐walled carbon nanotubes (sc‐SWCNTs) are promising building blocks for next‐generation nanoelectronics, yet their widespread application remains limited by the lack of rapid, scalable, and high‐yield purification methods. Here, we report a rapid organic‐aqueous two‐phase extraction (OATPE) strategy for the efficient purification of sc‐SWCNTs. By combining conjugated‐polymer‐assisted pre‐sorting with an interfacial extraction step, OATPE effectively removes metallic SWCNTs while preserving the structural integrity of the semiconducting nanotubes. Compared with the conventional multi‐cycle purification process, the proposed method reduces the purification time from approximately 3 h to 1 h, increases the estimated purification yield from ∼2.5% to ∼6.1%, and better preserves the nanotube length. The strategy is applicable to SWCNTs from different synthesis routes, including arc‐discharge, HiPco, and CoMoCAT materials. Large‐scale transistor arrays fabricated from the purified sc‐SWCNTs exhibit excellent electrical performance, and statistical analysis of approximately 2000 devices indicates an estimated semiconducting purity exceeding 99.9999%. This work provides a rapid, efficient, and scalable purification strategy for producing high‐quality semiconducting SWCNTs for future electronic applications.