Chemical Synthesis of Single-Chirality, Structurally Uniform Carbon Nanotubes

该项目将继续开发化学合成单手性、结构均匀的碳纳米管的方法。尽管世界各地的科学家和工程师进行了近20年的严格审查，但今天仍在通过鲜为人知的、经验丰富的高温方法制造碳纳米管，这些方法基于过渡金属介导的从气相中捕获原子、双原子和多原子碳物种。本项目的目标是开发合成有机化学方法，使全碳单壁纳米管的合理化学合成成为可能，这些单壁纳米管一端封闭，另一端开放，具有预定的、均匀的直径、手性、端帽结构和边缘结构。该项目建立并扩展了以前在P.I.实验室开发的用于化学合成包括富勒烯-C60在内的许多测地线聚芳烃的方法。通过这一奖项，有机化学和高分子化学项目支持波士顿学院化学系劳伦斯·T·斯科特教授的研究。斯科特教授的研究工作围绕合成三角碳原子的非平面网络的方法展开。这样的化学可以提供具有金属般的导电性能的超细、超强和轻质纳米线的途径。该方法的成功开发将为纳米技术的进步创造新的机会，从材料科学和生物工程到分子规模的电路和电子设备。

This project will continue work on the development of methods for the chemical synthesis of single-chirality, structurally uniform carbon nanotubes. Despite intense scrutiny by scientists and engineers worldwide for nearly two decades, carbon nanotubes are still being made today by poorly understood, empirical, high temperature methods based on the transition metal-mediated capture of atomic, diatomic, and polyatomic carbon species from the gas phase. It is the goal of this project to develop synthetic organic chemical methods that will make possible the rational chemical synthesis of all-carbon single walled nanotubes that are closed at one end and open at the other, with predefined, uniform diameter, chirality, end cap structure, and rim structure. The project builds on and extends methods previously developed in the laboratory of the P.I. for the chemical synthesis of numerous geodesic polyarenes, including fullerene-C60. With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Professor Lawrence T. Scott of the Department of Chemistry at Boston College. Professor Scott's research efforts revolve around the development of methods for the synthesis of nonplanar networks of trigonal carbon atoms. Such chemistry could provide access to ultra thin, super strong, and light weight nanowires with metal-like electrical conducting properties. Successful development of the methodology will create new opportunities for advances in nanotechnology, from materials science and bioengineering to molecular scale circuitry and electronic devices.