Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: January 10, 2017
Kinetics of PL quenching during single-walled carbon nanotube rebundling and diameter-dependent surfactant
Timothy J McDonald1, Chaiwat Engtrakul, Marcus Jones
1Center for Basic Sciences, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA. tm2008@columbia.edu
Abstract:
The kinetics of single-walled carbon nanotube rebundling have been investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The rate of loss of PL intensity was measured for 12 different nanotubes in three common aqueous surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS; sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, SDBS; and sodium cholate, SC) as the surfactant suspensions were diluted to promote nanotube rebundling, quenching of semiconductor nanotube PL, and precipitation. The rate of PL decay was first-order in the concentration of isolated nanotubes, as expected if surfactant desorption is rate-limiting in the rebundling process. Temperature-dependent measurements permitted an Arrhenius analysis from which diameter-dependent activation energies were determined. SDS was found to have very strong diameter dependence for activation energy, with stronger binding to smaller-diameter nanotubes, whereas SDBS displayed a weaker diameter dependence. SC was found to bind strongly to certain nanotubes and weakly to the (10,2) nanotube. The PL emission red shifted with time after dilution as surfactant desorption proceeded. This effect is attributed to an increase in the micropolarity at the nanotube surface.
More Related Videos
09:12Functionalization of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes with Thermo-reversible Block Copolymers and Characterization by Small-angle Neutron Scattering
Published on: June 1, 2016
09:48Simultaneous Synthesis of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene in a Magnetically-enhanced Arc Plasma
Published on: February 2, 2012
Related Concept Videos
Carbon Skeletons
Kinetic Energy
Plant Cell Wall
Enzyme Kinetics
Scientists typically study enzyme kinetics with a fixed amount of enzyme in the controlled environment of a test tube. When more reactant, or substrate, is...
Kinetic Molecular Theory: Molecular Velocities, Temperature, and Kinetic Energy
The Carbon Cycle