25th Anniversary Article: Chemically Modified/Doped Carbon Nanotubes & Graphene for Optimized Nanostructures & Nanodevices

TLDR

Carbon nanotubes and graphene possess outstanding pristine properties, yet their real‑life applications are limited by a lack of precise control over material structure and properties. The article reviews current research on chemically modifying and doping carbon nanotubes and graphene to optimize structures and properties, summarizes correlations between modification schemes and tunable material properties, and proposes future directions to overcome technological bottlenecks. The review outlines how chemical modification and doping of carbon nanotubes and graphene enable control over electronic energy levels, charge carrier density, surface energy, and reactivity, thereby benefiting flexible electronics, energy conversion and storage, nanocomposites, and environmental remediation through optimized interfacial structures.

Abstract

Outstanding pristine properties of carbon nanotubes and graphene have limited the scope for real‐life applications without precise controllability of the material structures and properties. This invited article to celebrate the 25 th anniversary of Advanced Materials reviews the current research status in the chemical modification/doping of carbon nanotubes and graphene and their relevant applications with optimized structures and properties. A broad aspect of specific correlations between chemical modification/doping schemes of the graphitic carbons with their novel tunable material properties is summarized. An overview of the practical benefits from chemical modification/doping, including the controllability of electronic energy level, charge carrier density, surface energy and surface reactivity for diverse advanced applications is presented, namely flexible electronics/optoelectronics, energy conversion/storage, nanocomposites, and environmental remediation, with a particular emphasis on their optimized interfacial structures and properties. Future research direction is also proposed to surpass existing technological bottlenecks and realize idealized graphitic carbon applications.