Helical Wrapping of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Water Soluble Poly(p-phenyleneethynylene) (PPES)

Amphiphilic, linear conjugated poly[p-{2,5-bis(3-propoxysulfonicacidsodiumsalt)}phenylene]ethynylene (PPES) efficiently disperses single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) under ultrasonication conditions into the aqueous phase. Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrate that these solubilized SWNTs are highly individualized.

* estructura de (PPES)

AFM and TEM data reveal that the interaction of PPES with SWNTs gives rise to a self-assembled superstructure in which a polymer monolayer helically wraps the nanotube surface; the observed PPES pitch length (13 ± 2 nm) confirms structural predictions made via molecular dynamics simulations. This work underscores design elements important for engineering well-defined nanotube-semiconducting polymer hybrid structures.

texto completo de la publicación:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/nl8032334