Confined propagation of covalent chemical reactions on single-walled carbon nanotubes

Shunliu Deng, Yin Zhang, Alexandra H. Brozena, Maricris Lodriguito Mayes, Parag Banerjee, Wen-An Chiou, Gary W. Rubloff, George C. Schatz and YuHuang Wang ()
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Shunliu Deng: University of Maryland
Yin Zhang: University of Maryland
Alexandra H. Brozena: University of Maryland
Maricris Lodriguito Mayes: Northwestern University
Parag Banerjee: University of Maryland
Wen-An Chiou: Maryland NanoCenter, University of Maryland
Gary W. Rubloff: University of Maryland
George C. Schatz: Northwestern University
YuHuang Wang: University of Maryland

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Covalent chemistry typically occurs randomly on the graphene lattice of a carbon nanotube because electrons are delocalized over thousands of atomic sites, and rapidly destroys the electrical and optical properties of the nanotube. Here we show that the Billups–Birch reductive alkylation, a variant of the nearly century-old Birch reduction, occurs on single-walled carbon nanotubes by defect activation and propagates exclusively from sp3 defect sites, with an estimated probability more than 1,300 times higher than otherwise random bonding to the 'π-electron sea'. This mechanism quickly leads to confinement of the reaction fronts in the tubular direction. The confinement gives rise to a series of interesting phenomena, including clustered distributions of the functional groups and a constant propagation rate of 18±6 nm per reaction cycle that allows straightforward control of the spatial pattern of functional groups on the nanometre length scale.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1384

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