Toward the Isolation of Functional Organic Nanotubes

摘要

The discoveries of buckminsterfullerene (C60) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) represent two very significant advances in the last two decades.[1], [2] Both types of material have found utility in important areas such as superconductivity and molecular electronics.[3] Whilst the synthesis and functionalization of carbon nanotubes is now developing rapidly, the materials produced are often costly, irregular in shape, and are typically found to aggregate in large bundles, thus making manipulation somewhat less than straightforward.