Immobilizing shortened single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTS) on gold using a surface condensation method

Xiaolin Nan, Zhennan Gu, Zhongfan Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

We propose a surface condensation method for assembling single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on gold. The as-prepared long and randomly tangled SWNTs were cut into short pipes by chemical oxidation, allowing the nanotubes to be terminated by carboxyl functionalities. A surface condensation reaction was then performed by immersing an amino self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-modified gold substrate into the dimethylformamide suspension of carboxylic nanotubes with the aid of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide condensation agent. Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results show that a highly aligned assembly of SWNTs has been formed on gold, with the nanotubes standing on the surface stable enough for a long ultrasonication. In combination with the microcontact printing (μCP) technique, we have fabricated patterned nanotube assemblies using this surface condensation method. Moreover, we found that the "giant" carbon nanotubes tend to form bundles on an amino-terminating surface, likely following a nucleation-growth model.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)311-318
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Volume245
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Chemical oxidation
  • SWNTs
  • Self-assembly
  • Surface condensation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Biomaterials
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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