Single Quasi-1D Chains of Sb₂Se₃ Encapsulated within Carbon Nanotubes

The realization of stable monolayers from 2D van der Waals (vdW) solids has fueled the search for exfoliable crystals with even lower dimensionalities. To this end, 1D and quasi-1D (q-1D) vdW crystals comprising weakly bound subnanometer-thick chains have been discovered and demonstrated to exhibit nascent physics in the bulk. Although established micromechanical and liquid-phase exfoliation methods have been applied to access single isolated chains from bulk crystals, interchain vdW interactions with nonequivalent strengths have greatly hindered the ability to achieve uniform single isolated chains. Here, we report that encapsulation of the model q-1D vdW crystal, Sb₂Se₃, within single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) circumvents the relatively stronger c-axis vdW interactions between the chains and allows for the isolation of single chains with structural integrity. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction studies of the Sb₂Se₃@CNT heterostructure revealed that the structure of the [Sb₄Se₆] chain is preserved, enabling us to systematically probe the size-dependent properties of Sb₂Se₃ from the bulk down to a single chain. We show that ensembles of the [Sb₄Se₆] chains within CNTs display Raman confinement effects and an emergent band-like absorption onset around 600 nm, suggesting a strong blue shift of the near-infrared band gap of Sb₂Se₃ into the visible range upon encapsulation. First-principles density functional theory calculations further provided qualitative insight into the structures and interactions that could manifest in the Sb₂Se₃@CNT heterostructure. Spatial visualization of the calculated electron density difference map of the heterostructure indicated a minimal degree of electron donation from the host CNT to the guest [Sb₄Se₆] chain. Altogether, this model system demonstrates that 1D and q-1D vdW crystals with strongly anisotropic vdW interactions can be precisely studied by encapsulation within CNTs with suitable diameters, thereby opening opportunities in understanding dimension-dependent properties of a plethora of emergent vdW solids at or approaching the subnanometer regime.