A quantitative method is proposed to determine Stone-Wales defects for 1D and 2D carbon nanostructures. The technique is based on the diene synthesis reaction (Diels-Alder reaction). The proposed method was used to determine Stone-Wales defects in the few-layer graphene (FLG) nanostructures synthesized by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) process in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) synthesized based on the method of Hammers and in the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) TUBAL trademark, Russia. Our research has shown that the structure of FLG is free of Stone-Wales defects, while the surface concentration of Stone-Wales defects in TUBAL carbon nanotubes is 1.1 × 10-5 mol/m2 and 3.6 × 10-5 mol/m2 for rGO.
Keywords: Stone–Wales defects; carbon nanotubes; few-layer graphene; graphene nanostructures; reduced graphene oxide; self-propagating high-temperature synthesis; structural defects.