The Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry (MSN) program of the Division of Chemistry will support the CAREER research and education program of Prof. YuHuang Wang of University of Maryland College Park. Prof. Wang and his students will develop new functionalization chemistry for double-wall carbon nanotubes, which will retain the remarkable optical and electronic properties of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes. This outerwall concept represents a significant departure from current approaches that utilize single wall carbon nanotubes and focus on protecting their properties through delicate surface modifications. Prof. Wang and his students will measure the optical and electrical transport properties of the inner tube of double wall carbon nanotubes and benchmark them against those of pristine single-walled nanotubes, double-wall nanotubes and functionalized single-walled nanotubes. These efforts will shed new light on carbon nanomaterials chemistry and afford researchers new chemical and nanometrology tools to reveal and control how local chemical environments mediate the electronic properties of nanostructures.
Successful completion of the proposed study will enable the use of double-wall carbon nanotubes in a wide range of applications for example as coatings in electronic devices and solar cells and as biomedical imaging probes and drug delivery carriers. The CAREER educational plans of Prof. Wang involve the development of an innovative curriculum in nanomaterials and outreach activities for high school students including students from under-represented groups in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
