Isolation of individual boron nitride nanotubes via peptide wrapping

The isolation of individual boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in aqueous phases has been achieved for the first time from raw materials based on the combination of peptide wrapping with a sonication procedure. Atomic force microscopic observations revealed the representative height and length of individual BNNTs. Fluorescence and infrared absorption spectra suggested the strong pi-pi interactions between BNNTs and the peptide. The absorption maxima of BNNTs were significantly blue-shifted from 200 nm for the original BNNTs to 193 nm. The modulation of the BNNT band gap with peptide wrapping promises potential applications of the peptide/BNNT complexes to various nanotechnologies.