Photoinduced Electron Transfer of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes Surrounded by Fullerodendrimers in Aqueous Media

Photoinduced electron-transfer processes of single walled carbon nano-tubes (SWNTs) dispersed in aqueous solution in the presence of fullerodendrimer have been studied by the steady-state and time-resolved spectro-scopic methods. On addition of methylviologen dication (MV2+) as an electron pooling reagent, the radical cation MV center dot+ was accumulated by visible light illumination of the SWNT-fullerodendrimer ensembles. The fluorescence lifetimes of the fullerene moiety and efficient accumulation of MV center dot+ suggest that the photosensitized charge separation occurs between the fullerene moiety and SWNTs, followed by electron-mediating and hole-shifting processes, resulting in the persistent MV center dot+.