Out-of-plane mosaic of single-wall carbon nanotube films

For single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) films deposited from suspension onto filter membranes, or by drop casting or spin coating onto flat substrates, the tube axes lie preferentially in the film plane. Using x-ray scattering and a two-dimensional detector, we show that this out-of-plane mosaic spread can be easily and accurately quantified. It varies significantly with deposition conditions, and the aligning effects of deposition and external force in the film plane (e.g., magnetic field) are additive. Films from well-dispersed tubes show better alignment than from poor dispersions. The finite out-of-plane mosaic in C60@SWNT films enables quantitative separation of one-dimensional diffraction (chains of C60 peas) from the 2D rope lattice diffraction.