Open AccessMolecularly Tunable Fluorescent Quantum Defects
Author(s) -
Hyejin Kwon,
Al’ona Furmanchuk,
Mijin Kim,
Brendan Meany,
Yong Guo,
George C. Schatz,
YuHuang Wang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the american chemical society
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.115
H-Index - 612
eISSN - 1520-5126
pISSN - 0002-7863
DOI - 10.1021/jacs.6b03618
Subject(s) - chemistry , photoluminescence , carbon nanotube , fluorescence , nanomaterials , nanotechnology , exciton , nanostructure , quantum yield , covalent bond , density functional theory , optoelectronics , materials science , computational chemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , physics
We describe the chemical creation of molecularly tunable fluorescent quantum defects in semiconducting carbon nanotubes through covalently bonded surface functional groups that are themselves nonemitting. By variation of the surface functional groups, the same carbon nanotube crystal is chemically converted to create more than 30 distinct fluorescent nanostructures with unique near-infrared photoluminescence that is molecularly specific, systematically tunable, and significantly brighter than that of the parent semiconductor. This novel exciton-tailoring chemistry readily occurs in aqueous solution and creates functional defects on the sp(2) carbon lattice with highly predictable C-C bonding from virtually any iodine-containing hydrocarbon precursor. Our new ability to control nanostructure excitons through a single surface functional group opens up exciting possibilities for postsynthesis chemical engineering of carbon nanomaterials and suggests that the rational design and creation of a large variety of molecularly tunable quantum emitters-for applications ranging from in vivo bioimaging and chemical sensing to room-temperature single-photon sources-can now be anticipated.