Multi-walled and single-walled nanotubes are currently made from high-pressure CO conversion, pulsed-laser vaporization, chemical vapor deposition, or carbon arc synthesis. Various sizes and both capped and uncapped carbon nanotubes are produced as mixtures by these methods, and heteroatom containing nanotubes are unavailable. This project addresses the step-wise synthesis of specific carbon nanotubes with predetermined diameter and length and functionalities, as well as heteroatom containing nanotubes. The specific aims are: (1) synthesis of functionalized singlewalled carbon nanotubes with specific diameters and lengths; (2) synthesis of heteroatomcontaining nanotubes; (3) synthesis of larger size nanotubes and self-assembly of nanotubes; and (4) application of nanotubes in the formation of lipid-bilayer ion channels.
Since the 1991 discovery of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in arc-discharge soot materials, carbon nanotubes have become one of the most intensively studied classes of materials of the past two decades. The interest stems from their unique electronic and mechanical properties. Current methods for preparing these unique materials are limited in that they produce mixtures of various sizes and configurations of nanotubes rather than pure materials. With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Duy H. Hua, of the Department of Chemistry at Kansas State University, is developing new methods for the synthesis of nanotubes that overcome these limitations. The pure, structurally well-defined nanotubes will provide new materials for development in electronic, analytical devices, and biological applications.
