Toward the Extraction of Single Species of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Using Fluorene-Based Polymers

Abstract

High purity of (7,5) SWNTs (approximately 79% of the semisonducting SWNT ensemble) can be obtained by polymer-assisted extraction from the narrow-diameter distributed SWNTs produced by the catalyst Co-MCM-41. The fluorene-based polymers are able to selectively wrap the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with certain chiral angles or diameters depending on their chemical structures. Poly(9,9-dioctyfluoreny1-2, 7-diyl) and poly[(9,9-dihexylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(9,10-anthracene)] selectively wrap SWNTs with high chiral angles (>24.5 degrees). By contrast, poly[9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-1,4-benzo-{2,1'-3}-thiadiazole)] preferentially wraps the SWNTs with certain diameter (1.02-1.06 nm).