Achieving diameter-selective separation of single-walled carbon nanotubes by using polymer conformation-confined helical cavity

Yusheng Chen, Yongqian Xu, Kelly Perry, Alexei P. Sokolov, Karren More, Yi Pang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

A water-soluble poly[(m-phenylenevinylene)-alt-(p-phenylenevinylene)] (PmPV) 2 has been synthesized, which exhibits an unsymmetrical substitution pattern on the paraphenylene unit. With one substituent being hydrophilic while the other being hydrophobic, the polymer chain has a higher tendency to fold in aqueous solution, thereby promoting helical conformation. The polymer is found to selectively disperse the single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) of small diameters (d = 0.75-0.84 nm), in sharp contrast to PmPV 1 with a symmetrical substitution pattern. The intriguing diameter-based selectivity is believed to be associated with the confined helical conformation, which provides a suitable cavity to host the SWNT of proper sizes. The study thus provides a useful demonstration that the polymer conformation can have a profound impact on the SWNT sorting.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)701-705
Number of pages5
JournalACS Macro Letters
Volume1
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 19 2012

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