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Initiation of carbon nanotube growth by well-defined carbon nanorings

Nature Chemistry volume 5, pages 572–576 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), tubular molecular entities that consist of sp2-hybridized carbon atoms, are currently produced as mixtures that contain tubes of various diameters and different sidewall structures. The electronic and optical properties of CNTs are determined by their diameters and sidewall structures and so a controlled synthesis of uniform-diameter, single-chirality CNTs—a significant chemical challenge—would provide access to pure samples with predictable properties. Here we report a rational bottom-up approach to synthesize structurally uniform CNTs using carbon nanorings (cycloparaphenylenes) as templates and ethanol as the carbon source. The average diameter of the CNTs formed is close to that of the carbon nanorings used, which supports the operation of a ‘growth-from-template’ mechanism in CNT formation. This bottom-up organic chemistry approach is intrinsically different from other conventional approaches to making CNTs and, if it can be optimized sufficiently, offers a route to the programmable synthesis of structurally uniform CNTs.

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Figure 1: A ‘growth-from-template’ strategy for the bottom-up synthesis of structurally uniform CNTs.
Figure 2: CPP-initiated CNT growth.
Figure 3: Infrared and fluorescence spectra of [12]CPP decomposition experiments.
Figure 4: Possible mechanisms of CPP-initiated CNT growth.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Funding Program for Next Generation World-Leading Researchers from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (220GR049 to K.I.) and the Tokuyama Science Foundation. FUJIFILM Corporation is acknowledged for various types of support. H.O. thanks JSPS for a predoctoral fellowship. We are very grateful to H. Shinohara and R. Kitaura (Nagoya University) for providing access to their instruments as well as for discussion. C. M. Crudden (Queen's University, Canada) is acknowledged for comments and discussion. We thank T. Kitagawa, K. Miyaura and S. Naruse (Nagoya University) for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa, 464-8602, Nagoya, Japan

    Haruka Omachi, Takuya Nakayama, Yasutomo Segawa & Kenichiro Itami

  2. Synthetic Organic Chemistry Laboratories, Research and Development Management Headquarters, FUJIFILM Corporation, Ushijima, Kaisei-machi, Ashigarakami-gun, 258-8577, Kanagawa, Japan

    Eri Takahashi

  3. Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Chikusa, 464-8602, Nagoya, Japan

    Kenichiro Itami

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  1. Haruka Omachi
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Contributions

H.O. synthesized [9]CPP and [12]CPP. H.O. and T.N. performed the CNT growth experiments and analyses. E.T. conducted the CPP decomposition experiments. Y.S. provided critical advice. K.I. conceived the concept and prepared the manuscript with feedback from the other authors.

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Correspondence to Kenichiro Itami.

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Omachi, H., Nakayama, T., Takahashi, E. et al. Initiation of carbon nanotube growth by well-defined carbon nanorings. Nature Chem 5, 572–576 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1655

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