H-bonded supramolecular polymer for the selective dispersion and subsequent release of large-diameter semiconducting
Igor Pochorovski1, Huiliang Wang1, Jeremy I Feldblyum1
1Departments of †Chemical Engineering, ‡Materials Science and Engineering, and §Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States.
Abstract:
Semiconducting, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are promising candidates for applications in thin-film transistors, solar cells, and biological imaging. To harness their full potential, however, it is necessary to separate the semiconducting from the metallic SWNTs present in the as-synthesized SWNT mixture. While various polymers are able to selectively disperse semiconducting SWNTs, the subsequent removal of the polymer is challenging. However, many applications require semiconducting SWNTs in their pure form. Toward this goal, we have designed a 2-ureido-6[1H]-pyrimidinone (UPy)-based H-bonded supramolecular polymer that can selectively disperse semiconducting SWNTs. The dispersion purity is inversely related to the dispersion yield. In contrast to conventional polymers, the polymer described herein was shown to disassemble into monomeric units upon addition of an H-bond-disrupting agent, enabling isolation of dispersant-free, semiconducting SWNTs.
