Carbon Nanotubes and Related Structures: Synthesis, Characterization, Functionalization, and Applications

Written by the most prominent experts and pioneers in the field, this ready reference combines fundamental research, recent breakthroughs and real-life applications in one well-organized treatise. As such, both newcomers and established researchers will find here a wide range of current methods for producing and characterizing carbon nanotubes using imaging as well as spectroscopic techniques. One major part of this thorough overview is devoted to the controlled chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes, covering intriguing applications in photovoltaics, organic electronics and materials design. The latest research on novel carbon-derived structures, such as graphene, nanoonions and carbon pea pods, round off the book.

Table of Contents:
CARBON NANOTUBES AND RELATED STRUCTURES: PRODUCTION AND FORMATION Introduction Carbon Nanotube Production Catalysts Growth Enhancement Growth Mechanisms Functionalization Purification Futures Perspectives THEORY OF ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF DNA-SWNT HYBRIDS Introduction Physical Structure and Bonding in Nanotube-DNA Hybrids: A Short Review Quantum Mechanical Modeling of the Hybrid Structure: Tight Binding Band Structure Calculation Self-Consistent Computation Scheme: Acting Potential Screening Factor and the Dielectric Permittivity Polarization Component of Cohesion Energy of the SWNT-ssDNA Hybrid Optical Absorption of SWNT-DNA Hybrids Summary ELECTROCHEMISTRY Introduction Electronic Properties of SWNTs Electrode Potentials Versus Work Functions Electrochemistry at SWNTs Versus Electrochemistry of SWNTs Carbon Nanotubes for Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors Electrochemistry of Carbon Nanotubes Cyclic Voltammetric Investigations of Solutions of Individual SWNTs Vis-NIR Spectroelectrochemical Investigation of True Solutions of Unfunctionalized SWNTs Standard Redox Potentials of Individual SWNTs in Solution Fermi Level and Excitonic Binding Energy of the Nanotubes Conclusions and Perspectives PHOTOPHYSICS Introduction Molecular Nanoparticles: Carbon Nanotubes Have it All Understanding Optical Properties The Coulomb Interaction and Bound States Colloidal Chemistry Facilitates Detailed Study of Nanotube Optics Excited State Dynamics and Nonlinear Optics Outlook NONCOVALENT FUNCTIONALIZATION OF CARBON NANOTUBES Introduction Early Insights in the Noncovalent Interaction of CNTs with Solvents and Classical Macrocyclic Scaffolds Noncovalent Interactions of CNTs with Small Aromatic Molecules Noncovalent Interactions of CNTs with Heterocyclic Polyaromatic Systems Noncovalent Interactions of CNTs with Surfactants and Ionic Liquids Noncovalent Interactions of CNTs with Polymers Optically Active SWCNTS Noncovalent Interactions of CNTs with Nanoparticles Summary and Conclusions COVALENT FUNCTIONALIZATION OF CARBON NANOTUBES Introduction Chemical Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes Defect Group Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes Direct Sidewall Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes Conclusions CARBON-BASED NANOMATERIAL APPLICATIONS IN BIOMEDICINE Introduction Carbon Nanotubes Carbon Nanohorns Carbon Nanodiamonds Conclusions GROUND AND EXCITED STATE CHARGE TRANSFER AND ITS IMPLICATIONS Introduction Ground and Excited State Features Ground State Charge Transfer ? CNT as Electron Acceptors Ground State Charge Transfer ? CNT as Electron Donors Excited State Charge Transfer ? CNT as Excited State Electron Acceptor Excited State Charge Transfer ? CNT as Ground State Electron Acceptor Excited State Charge Transfer ? CNT as Ground State Electron Donor Implications of Ground State Charge Transfer Implications of Excited State Charge Transfer PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES BASED ON CARBON NANOTUBES AND RELATED STRUCTURES Introduction Photovoltaic Cells Based on Carbon Nanotubes Related Structures Future Directions LAYER-BY-LAYER ASSEMBLY OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL CARBON NANOTUBE THIN FILMS Introduction Structure and Properties of CNTs Structural Organization in Multilayers of Carbon Nanotubes Electrical Conductor Applications Sensor Applications Fuel Cell Applications Nano-/Microshell LBL Coatings and Biomedical Applications Conclusions CARBON NANOTUBES FOR CATALYTIC APPLICATIONS Introduction Macroscopic shaping of CNTs Specific Metal-Support Interaction Dispersion of the Active Phase Electrically and Thermally Conductive Supports Mass Transfer Limitations Confinement Effect Conclusions CARBON NANOTUBES AS CONTAINERS Introduction Mechanisms of Nanotube Filling Fullerenes as Guest Molecules Other Types of Molecules Ionic Compounds Nnaoparticles in Nanotubes Concluding Remarks CARBON NANOHORN Introduction Production Structure and Growth Mechanism Properties Functionalization Toxicity Drug Delivery Applications Summary SELF-ORGANIZATION OF NANOGRAPHENES Introduction Single Sheets of Nanographenes Organization in the Bulk State Charge Carrier Transport Along Nanographene Stacks Solution Aggregation and Fiber Formation Solution Alignment on Surfaces Thermal Processing Nanographenes in Heterojunctions for Solar Cells Processing of Nondiscotic Nanographenes Conclusions ENDOHEDRALS Introduction Recent Investigations in the Synthesis of Endohedral Metallofullerenes Advances in Nonchromatographic Techniques for Separation on Endohedral Metallofullerenes Structures of Endohedral Metallofullerenes Determined by X-Ray Crystallographic Method Electrochemical Properties of Endohedral Metallofullerenes Chemical Reactivity of Endohedral Metallofullerenes Applications of Endohedral Metallofullerenes Concluding Remarks CARBON NANOSTRUCTURES: CALCULATIONS OF THEIR ENERGETICS, THERMODYNAMICS, AND STABILITY Introduction Energetics and Thermodynamics of Clusters Stabilities of Empty Fullerenes Stabilities of Metallofullerenes Stabilities of Nonmetal Endohedral Kinetic Control

About the Author :
Dirk M. Guldi completed both his undergraduate studies (1988) and PhD (1990) at the University of Cologne (Germany). Following postdoctoral appointments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), the Hahn-Meitner Institute Berlin (1992), and Syracuse University, he joined the faculty of the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory in 1995. He was promoted a year later from assistant to associate professional specialist, and remained affiliated to Notre Dame until 2004. Since 2004, he is Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen. His research interests focus on the fundamental structural and electronic requirements for ultrafast charge transport and optical gating in carbon nanostructure arrays of donor-acceptor ensembles and in nanostructured thin films to address issues that correspond to the optimization and fine-tuning of dynamics and/or efficiencies of solar energy conversion. Nazario Martin is full professor of Organic Chemistry at the University Complutense of Madrid. His research interests span a range of targets with emphasis on the chemistry of carbon nanostructures involving fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, pi-conjugated systems as molecular wires, and Electroactive molecules, in the context of electron transfer processes, photovoltaic applications and nanoscience. He is currently a member of the Editorial Board of Chemical Communications, and the Regional Editor for Europe of the journal Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures. He has received the DuPont Award for Science in 2007. He is a fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry, vice-director of IMDEA ? Nanoscience Institute, and the President of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry.

Review :
"I do not hesitate to recommend this book to our colleagues, and in general to everybody interested in the nanoforms of one of the most fashionable elements, carbon." (Angewandte Chemie, 2011)