Helical wrapping of single-walled carbon nanotubes by water soluble poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)

Amphiphilic, linear conjugated poly[p-{2,5-bis(3-propoxysulfonicacidsodiumsalt)}phenylene]ethynylene (PPES) efficiently disperses single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) under ultrasonication conditions into the aqueous phase. Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrate that these solubilized SWNTs are highly individualized. AFM and TEM data reveal that the interaction of PPES with SWNTs gives rise to a self-assembled superstructure in which a polymer monolayer helically wraps the nanotube surface; the observed PPES pitch length (13 +/- 2 nm) confirms structural predictions made via molecular dynamics simulations. This work underscores design elements important for engineering well-defined nanotube-semiconducting polymer hybrid structures.