Mechanistic Studies of Carbon Naotube Sorting on Functional Surfaces

本研究的目的是了解单壁碳纳米管表面自分选的基本机制。该方法是结合系统实验和从头算理论模型来了解有机官能团与单壁碳纳米管之间相互作用的本质。单壁碳纳米管优越的电气和机械性能的结合继续推进包括柔性电子，生物/化学传感器和太阳能电池技术在内的应用。尽管已经取得了巨大的进展，展示了SWNT器件的潜在应用用途，但除非能够解决有关可控制的可重复放置，对准和手性/直径分离的基本问题，否则这种应用将无法实现。这项工作建立在Bao先前的实验发现之上，即适当功能化的表面可以选择性地吸收主要是半导体或主要是金属的单壁碳纳米管。这项工作将有助于更好地理解单壁碳纳米管与表面官能团之间相互作用的性质。这项工作的结果将对使单壁碳纳米管更接近实际电子设备产生重大影响。通过实验和理论方法的结合，参与项目的学生将接触到解决问题的跨学科方法，适用于广泛的问题，超出了本提案所解决的问题。这项研究将使研究生和本科生接触到有机化学、聚合物化学、表面化学、量子模拟、材料和薄膜表征、器件制造和器件表征。这两个pi都非常致力于并积极参与外展和教育，这将在本项目中继续进行。

The objective of this research is to understand the fundamental mechanisms for the surface self-sorting of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The approach is to combine systematic experiments and ab-initio theoretical modeling to understand the nature of interactions between organic functional groups and single-walled carbon nanotubes. The combination of superior electrical and mechanical properties in single-walled carbon nanotubes continues to advance applications including flexible electronics, bio/chemical sensors, and solar cell technology. Despite enormous progress achieved exhibiting potential applied uses of SWNT devices, such applications will not be realized unless fundamental issues concerning the controlled reproducible placement, alignment, and chirality/diameter separation can be solved. This work builds on the previous experimental findings of Bao that properly functionalized surfaces can selectively absorb either primarily semiconducting or primarily metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes. This work will lead to better understanding of the nature of interaction between SWNTs and surface functional groups. The results from this work will have great impact in bringing single-walled carbon nanotubes closer to practical electronic devices. With the combination of both experimental and theoretical approaches, the students involved in the project will have exposure to an interdisciplinary approach for problem solving, applicable to a wide class of problems, beyond those tackled in this proposal. This research will expose both graduate students and undergraduates to organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, surface chemistry, quantum simulations, materials and thin film characterization, device fabrication, and device characterization. Both PIs are greatly committed and have been actively involved in outreach and education, which will be continued in this program.