(Invited) Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes in a Micellar Environment

Abstract

A key issue for applications of colloidal nanoobjects is related to their solubility in water. Indeed, their aggregation results in the deterioration of their intrinsic properties. In order to solve this problem, many strategies have been developed. As far as carbon nanotubes are concerned, the best way to solubilize them in water while preserving their outstanding properties is to use a micellar environment. As a consequence the chemistry of carbon nanotubes in micelles is a growing field of research. For instance, people have grafted photoswitches on the wall of nanotubes, have doped nanotubes with diazonium and even performed polymerization in micelles [1-4]. In this presentation, we will present our recent results on the functionalization of carbon nanotubes with different kind of molecules in a micellar environment (porphyrins [5, 6], polymers [7]…). In particular, we will focus on the influence of the molecules on the optical properties of carbon nanotubes both on ensemble and at the single object level.