Description:
- Transistors, integrated circuits, RFID chips, and CMOS batteries
- Information storage devices
- Smart textiles
Abstract
USC researchers have used redox chemistry for various sorting processes of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). By employing a polyethylene glycol (PEG)/dextran (DX) aqueous two-phase system, the electron-transfer between redox molecules and SWCNTs triggers a reorganization of the surfactant coating layer. This results in a significant modulation of nanotube partitioning between the two phases. The extraction order follows the SWCNT band gap, allowing the separation of different types of nanotubes. These findings highlight the potential of redox-induced surfactant reorganization as a versatile mechanism for tuning and improving SWCNT sorting processes.
Benefit
- Improved sorting processes
- Surfactant coating modulation
- Differential responses to redox for armchair and non-armchair metallic SWCNTs
- Versatile applications
Market Application
Carbon nanotubes have wide applications, with an estimated market worth 1.1 billion in 2023. The discovery of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has revealed a family of stable macromolecules with diverse electronic structures, classified by their band gaps. Understanding the SWCNT redox chemistry is important for developing effective dispersion and separation methods. By leveraging insights from coordination chemistry, exploring the redox chemistry of SWCNTs and surfactant layers presents a promising opportunity.
Publications
Redox Sorting of Carbon Nanotubes, Gui et al., 2015.
Stage of Development
- Experimentally validated
- Available for licensing