Deterministic sythesis and site specific functionalization of single walled carbon nanotubes and their application on the synthesis of functional materials

单壁碳纳米管（SWNT）是一种具有吸引力的基础和应用研究材料，其化学功能化已成为新型复合材料和化学传感器等应用领域的研究热点。功能化的机制是一个活跃的研究领域，目前关于这一主题的文献非常丰富。然而，目前的方法缺乏对化学官能团的连接位点的控制，因此，尚未实现采用SWNT的功能装置所需的特定化学连接方案。基于单壁碳纳米管的装置的额外复杂性只能通过修改已经报道的有价值的策略来实现，使得单壁碳纳米管可以沿着单壁碳纳米管长度或尖端以位点特异性方式官能化。这反过来又会将反应和互动限制在其中一个区域，而不是两个区域。拟议的研究将开发一种新的方法来实现这种特定位点的功能化，该方法将催化剂辅助化学气相沉积（CVD）用于在平坦基底上合成对齐的SWNT森林，并使用涂层技术来限制对齐的SWNT森林的未受保护的暴露区域的功能化。纳米管阵列将在保护层已经被沉积并沿着阵列蚀刻之后被直接功能化。此外，CVD方法将允许通过控制合成的实验参数（例如原料组成、温度和催化剂组成）来定制纳米管直径，甚至手性。所获得的最终产品将是一个非常好的设计单壁碳纳米管材料，其中直径，手性，和化学功能的网站是很好地定义。从根本上讲，这种方法将允许增强目前的理解单壁碳纳米管共价官能化，而在实际意义上，优化衍生程序的广泛范围将是有价值的，在制备广泛的单壁碳纳米管杂化材料。申请的资金将支持4MSC学生和3名博士生进行综合设计和实验研究计划。

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are an attractive material for a host of fundamental and applied studies, and their chemical functionalization has become an area of great interest for applications such as the fabrication of novel composite materials and chemical sensors. The mechanisms of functionalization are an active field of research and the current literature on this topic is abundant. However, current methodology lacks control over the attachment site of the chemical functionality and, therefore, specific chemical attachment schemes required for functional devices employing SWNT have not been achieved. Additional complexity of SWNT-based devices can only be achieved by modification of the valuable strategies already reported, such that SWNT can be functionalized in a site-specific manner along the SWNT length or tip. This in turn will limit reactions and interactions to either one of those regions only and not both. The proposed research will develop a novel approach to such site-specific functionalization that combines catalyst-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for synthesis of aligned SWNT forests over flat substrates, and the use of coating techniques to limit the functionalization of unprotected exposed regions of the aligned SWNT forests. The nanotube arrays will be directly functionalized after a protective layer has been deposited and etched along the array. Additionally, the CVD approach will allow tailoring of the nanotube diameters, and even chirality, by controlling the experimental parameters for synthesis such as feedstock composition, temperature, and catalyst composition. The final product obtained will be an extremely well designed SWNT material in which diameter, chirality, and site of the chemical functionality are well defined. In a fundamental sense, this approach will allow an enhancement of the current understanding of SWNT covalent functionalization, while in a practical sense, optimized derivatization procedures of a broad scope will be of value in the preparation of a wide range of SWNT hybrid materials. Funds requested will support 4MSC students and 3 PhD students to conduct an integrated design and experimental research program.