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Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: January 10, 2017
Inner Surface Chirality of Single-Handed Twisted Carbonaceous Tubular Nanoribbons
Dan Liu1, Baozong Li1, Yongmin Guo1
1Key Laboratory of Organic Synthesis of Jiangsu Province, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Single-handed twisted 4,4'-biphenylene-bridged polybissilsesquioxane tubular nanoribbons and single-layered nanoribbons were prepared by tuning the water/ethanol volume ratio in the reaction mixture at pH = 11.6 through a supramolecular templating approach. The single-layered nanoribbons were formed by shrinking tubular nanoribbons after the removal of the templates. In addition, solvent-induced handedness inversion was achieved. The handedness of the polybissilsesquioxanes could be controlled by changing the ethanol/water volume ratio in the reaction mixture. After carbonization at 900 °C for 4.0 h and removal of silica, single-handed twisted carbonaceous tubular nanoribbons and single-layered nanoribbons with micropores in the walls were obtained. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analyses indicated that the carbon is predominantly amorphous. The circular dichroism spectra show that the twisted tubular nanoribbons exhibit optical activity, while the twisted single-layered nanoribbons do not. The results shown here indicate that chirality is transferred from the organic self-assemblies to the inner surfaces of the 4,4'-biphenylene-bridged polybissilsesquioxane tubular nanoribbons and subsequently to those of the carbonaceous tubular nanoribbons.
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