The low temperature thermal expansion of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles saturated with nitrogen

The effect of a N2 impurity on the radial thermal expansion coefficient (ar) of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles has been investigated in the temperature interval 2.2 - 43 K by the dilatometric method. Saturation of nanotube bundles with N2 caused a sharp increase in the positive magnitudes of ar in the whole range of temperatures used and a very high and wide maximum in the thermal expansion coefficient (ar)(T) at T about 28 K. The low temperature desorption of the impurity from the N2-saturated powder of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes with open and closed ends has been investigated.