Alternating patterns on single-walled carbon nanotubes

Scientific and technological interest in one-dimensional nanomaterials, in particular carbon nanotubes, is a result of their fascinating properties and their ability to serve as templates for directed assembly. For applications in nanoelectronics it is necessary to create ordered arrays of nanotubes for large-scale integrated circuits, an area in which there has been significant progress, and to produce controllable patterns on individual nanotubes so that multiple transistors can be fabricated on them, an area where progress has been slower. Here, we show that judiciously selected crystalline block copolymers can be periodically decorated along carbon nanotubes, leading to amphiphilic, alternating patterns with a period of approximately 12 nm. In addition, end-functionalization of the block copolymers allowed gold nanoparticles to be periodically attached to the nanotubes. This approach provides a facile technique for the periodic patterning of one-dimensional nanomaterials.