Light‐Switchable Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes Based on Host–Guest Chemistry |
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Authors: | Zanru Guo Yujun Feng Dingwei Zhu Shuai He Hanbin Liu Xiangrong Shi Jing Sun Meizhen Qu |
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Affiliation: | 1. Polymer Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, , Chengdu, 610065 P. R. China;2. Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, , Chengdu, 610041 P. R. China;3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, , Beijing, 100049 P. R. China |
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Abstract: | A new type of light‐switchable “smart” single‐walled carbon nanotube (SWNTs) is developed by the reversible host–guest interaction between azobenzene‐terminal PEO (AzoPEO) and pyrene‐labeled host attached on the sidewalls of nanotubes via π–π stacking. The SWNTs hybrids not only are well dispersed in pure water, but also exhibit switchable dispersion/aggregation states upon the alternate irradiation of UV and visible light. Moreover, the SWNTs hybrids dispersion is preliminarily used as coating fluid to form transparent conductive films. The dispersant AzoPEO is removed by the contamination‐free UV treatment, decreasing the resistance of the films. This kind of light‐switchable SWNTs hybrids, possessing a ‘‘green’’ trigger and intact structure of the nanotube, may find potential applications in sensor of biomedicines, device fabrication, etc. Additionally, such a reversible host–guest interaction system may open up the possibility to control the dispersion state of SWNTs by other common polymers. |
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Keywords: | light‐switchable single‐walled carbon nanotubes host– guest chemistry smart materials hybrids |
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