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  • Review Article
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Structurally uniform and atomically precise carbon nanostructures

Nature Reviews Materials volume 1, Article number: 15002 (2016) Cite this article

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Abstract

Nanometre-sized carbon materials consisting of benzene units oriented in unique geometric patterns, hereafter named nanocarbons, conduct electricity, absorb and emit light, and exhibit interesting magnetic properties. Spherical fullerene C60, cylindrical carbon nanotubes and sheet-like graphene are representative forms of nanocarbons, and theoretical simulations have predicted several exotic 3D nanocarbon structures. At present, synthetic routes to nanocarbons mainly lead to mixtures of molecules with a range of different structures and properties, which cannot be easily separated or refined into pure forms. Some researchers believe that it is impossible to synthesize these materials in a precise manner. Obtaining ‘pure’ nanocarbons is a great challenge in the field of nanocarbon science, and the construction of structurally uniform nanocarbons, ideally as single molecules, is crucial for the development of functional materials in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and biomedical applications. This Review highlights the organic chemistry approach — more specifically, bottom-up construction with atomic precision — that is currently the most promising strategy towards this end.

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Figure 1: Structures of representative nanocarbons classified according to their dimensionality.
Figure 2: Synthesis of carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons.
Figure 3: Organic synthesis of carbon nanotubes.
Figure 4: Characteristics of different growth-from-template strategies for synthesizing carbon nanotubes.
Figure 5: Organic synthesis of graphene nanoribbons.
Figure 6: Annulative π-extension (APEX) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Figure 7: Approaches to synthesize 3D nanocarbons.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO) program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (K.I.). The authors thank A. Miyazaki for critical comments and H. Hirukawa for graphics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. JST, ERATO, Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project, Chikusa, Nagoya, 464–8602, Japan

    Yasutomo Segawa & Kenichiro Itami

  2. Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, 464–8602, Japan

    Yasutomo Segawa, Hideto Ito & Kenichiro Itami

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

    Kenichiro Itami

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  1. Yasutomo Segawa
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Correspondence to Kenichiro Itami.

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Segawa, Y., Ito, H. & Itami, K. Structurally uniform and atomically precise carbon nanostructures. Nat Rev Mater 1, 15002 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2015.2

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