EFFECT OF ELECTRONIC IRRADIATION IN THE PRODUCTION OF NbSe2 NANOTUBES

In this work, we report the production of NbSe₂ (niobium diselenide) nanotubes formed by irradiating NbSe₂ with high doses of electron irradiation. The apparatus used for the irradiation was a 2 MeV Van de Graaff accelerator at the following conditions: voltage 1.3 MeV, current 5 μA, dose rate 25 kGy/min, and total dosage 1000 kGy. These conditions were maintained fixed while irradiation dosage was changed between 100, 250 and 500 Mrad. We observed enormous and very well defined nanotubes with a length of several nm and width of a few nm, which are hollow and capped at one end. As the level of irradiation is increased to 500 Mrad, onion-like structures were observed.