Diameter-Selective Host-Guest Interactions between Functionalized Fullerenes and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Rui Zhang,
Wanru Gao,
Chang Sun,
Yiwen Liu,
Xiaojun Lu,
Xing Lu
Affiliations
Rui Zhang
Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Wanru Gao
State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Chang Sun
State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Yiwen Liu
Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Xiaojun Lu
Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Xing Lu
State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Carbon nano peapods, with their electronic properties and spintronics, have attracted great attention regarding their potential applications when combined with fullerenes or their derivatives encapsulated inside. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a series of fullerene derivatives with different functional groups, which are then encapsulated into single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Accurate morphological characterization with high-resolution TEM reveals a clear correlation between the filling ratio of the peapods and the steric bulk of the functionalized groups. Further spectroscopic characterizations reveal diameter-selective interactions between the fullerene derivatives and SWCNTs, which, in turn, influence the electronic structures of the nanotubes. Our results have shed new light on the controlled synthesis and property-tuning of nano peapods.
