Journal
ACS NANO
Volume 2, Issue 9, Pages 1770-1776Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/nn800364r
Keywords
single-walled carbon nanotubes; SWCNT; fluorescence microscopy; single-nanotube imaging; diffusion; rotation; Brownian motion
Categories
Funding
- Welch Foundation [C-0807, C-1559, L-C-0004]
- NSF Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology [EEC-0647452]
- Applied NanoFluorescence, LLC
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Near-infrared fluorescence videomicroscopy has been used to study simultaneously the translational and rotational diffusion of individual semiconduding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in aqueous suspension. Analysis of translational trajectories revealed diffusion coefficient values from approximately 0.3 to 6 mu m(2)/s. The nanotube lengths deduced from these values ranged between similar to 130 nm and 6 mu m. From the minor bending motions observed in individual nanotubes several micrometers in length, we confirmed that the shorter SWCNTs of primary interest here can be considered to be rigid rods under normal conditions. Because the nanotubes act as highly rigid, photostable, steady, and anisotropic fluorophores, it was possible to monitor their rotational reorientations through fluctuations in emission intensity under linearly polarized excitation. The magnitudes of observed orientational fluctuations varied substantially among individual nanotubes. These magnitudes correlated strongly with translational diffusion coefficient, reflecting the length dependence of both types of motions. Combined translational and rotational measurements also revealed the influence of local environment on nanotube mobility.
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