Journal
NANO LETTERS
Volume 11, Issue 10, Pages 4405-4410Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/nl2025745
Keywords
Double-walled carbon nanotubes; separation; sorting; photoluminescence; density gradient ultracentrifugation
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Funding
- Duke University
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under NSF through the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) [EF-0830093]
- NSF at Duke University
- Directorate For Engineering
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys [0933484] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Engineering
- Div Of Engineering Education and Centers [1004985] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure
- Direct For Biological Sciences [830093] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) have recently been recognized as important members in the carbon nanotube family because they are expected to have certain unique properties. For example, DWNTs are expected to replace single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in biomarker applications and optoelectronics if the observed luminescence from DWNTs can be verified. However, due to unavoidable byproducts, such as SWNTs, optical properties of DWNTs still remain controversial. There is an ongoing debate concerning the ability of DWNTs to exhibit photoluminescence (PL). In this report, we aim to clearly resolve this debate through the study of carefully separated DWNTs. DWNTs were successfully separated from SWNTs using density gradient ultracentrifugation. Here we dearly show that light is emitted from the inner wall of DWNTs; however, the intensity of the emission is significantly quenched. Interestingly, it was found that a very narrow range of diameters of the inner walls of DWNTs is required for PL to be observable. All other diameters led to complete PL quenching in DWNTs. In short, we have shown that both sides of the debate are correct under certain situations. The real answer to the question is that some DWNTs do emit light but most DWNTs do not.
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