Isolation of single-walled carbon nanotube enantiomers by density differentiation

Alexander A. Green, Matthew C. Duch, Mark C. Hersam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

155 Scopus citations

Abstract

Current methods of synthesizing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) result in racemic mixtures that have impeded the study of left- and right-handed SWNTs. Here we present a method of isolating different SWNT enantiomers using density gradient ultracentrifugation. Enantiomer separation is enabled by the chiral surfactant sodium cholate, which discriminates between left- and right-handed SWNTs and thus induces subtle differences in their buoyant densities. This sorting strategy can be employed for simultaneous enrichment by handedness and roll-up vector of SWNTs having diameters ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 nm. In addition, circular dichroism of enantiomer refined samples enables identification of high-energy optical transitions in SWNTs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)69-77
Number of pages9
JournalNano Research
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carbon nanotube
  • Chirality
  • Enantiomer
  • Handedness
  • Optical activity
  • Separation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • General Materials Science

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