Highly selective dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes using aromatic polymers.
Solubilizing and purifying carbon nanotubes remains one of the foremost technological hurdles in their investigation and application. We report a dramatic improvement in the preparation of single-walled carbon nanotube solutions based on the ability of specific aromatic polymers to efficiently disperse certain nanotube species with a high degree of selectivity. Evidence of this is provided by optical absorbance and photoluminescence excitation spectra, which show suspensions corresponding to up to approximately 60% relative concentration of a single species of isolated nanotubes with fluorescence quantum yields of up to 1.5%. Different polymers show the ability to discriminate between nanotube species in terms of either diameter or chiral angle. Modelling suggests that rigid-backbone polymers form ordered molecular structures surrounding the nanotubes with n-fold symmetry determined by the tube diameter.
Nish
Adrian
A
Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK.
Hwang
Jeong-Yuan
JY
Doig
James
J
Nicholas
Robin J
RJ
D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
D003102:Colloids; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers