Mixed-surfactant gating of aryl diazonium quantum defect formation in single-walled carbon nanotubes.
- 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland College Park Maryland 20742 USA [email protected].
- 2Chemical Physics Program, University of Maryland College Park MD 20742 USA.
- 3Maryland NanoCenter, University of Maryland College Park MD 20742 USA.
Abstract
Aryl diazonium chemistry is widely used to introduce luminescent sp³ quantum defects into single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for imaging, sensing, and photonic applications. However, controlling the extent of functionalization is nontrivial because excessive diazonium functionalization can disrupt the SWCNT sp² carbon network, leading to substantial loss of its characteristic optical absorption. Here, we show that mixed sodium dodecyl sulfate/sodium deoxycholate (SDS/DOC) surfactant coronas provide a simple way to regulate aryl diazonium access to the SWCNT sidewall. In DOC-only SWCNT dispersions, even 0.010% (m/V) DOC suppressed detectable aryl diazonium-induced defect formation, whereas SDS-only dispersions permitted rapid functionalization. By systematically varying the SDS/DOC composition, we identified a reaction window of ∼0.008 to 0.050% (m/V) DOC at 0.857% (m/V) SDS and 2.35 μM 4-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate that maximizes the brightening factor (integrated defect photoluminescence (PL) relative to pristine E₁₁ PL) while reducing E₁₁ absorption loss relative to SDS-only dispersions. These results support a mixed-surfactant gating model in which DOC protects the nanotube surface, while SDS-rich or less-protected regions permit diazonium adsorption and defect formation. Mixed-surfactant engineering therefore offers a practical strategy for tuning quantum defect formation in SWCNTs.
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BibTeX
@article{zhulficar2026mixedsurfactant,
title = {{Mixed-surfactant gating of aryl diazonium quantum defect formation in single-walled carbon nanotubes.}},
author = {Zhulfaa Zhulficar and YuHuang Wang},
journal = {RSC applied interfaces},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6lf00258g},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948322},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mixed-surfactant gating of aryl diazonium quantum defect formation in single-walled carbon nanotubes.
AU - Zhulfaa Zhulficar
AU - YuHuang Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - RSC applied interfaces
DO - 10.1039/d6lf00258g
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948322
AB - Aryl diazonium chemistry is widely used to introduce luminescent sp³ quantum defects into single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for imaging, sensing, and photonic applications. However, controlling the extent of functionalization is nontrivial because excessive diazonium functionalization can disrupt the SWCNT sp² carbon network, leading to substantial loss of its characteristic optical absorption. Here, we show that mixed sodium dodecyl sulfate/sodium deoxycholate (SDS/DOC) surfactant coronas provide a simple way to regulate aryl diazonium access to the SWCNT sidewall. In DOC-only SWCNT dispersions, even 0.010% (m/V) DOC suppressed detectable aryl diazonium-induced defect formation, whereas SDS-only dispersions permitted rapid functionalization. By systematically varying the SDS/DOC composition, we identified a reaction window of ∼0.008 to 0.050% (m/V) DOC at 0.857% (m/V) SDS and 2.35 μM 4-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate that maximizes the brightening factor (integrated defect photoluminescence (PL) relative to pristine E₁₁ PL) while reducing E₁₁ absorption loss relative to SDS-only dispersions. These results support a mixed-surfactant gating model in which DOC protects the nanotube surface, while SDS-rich or less-protected regions permit diazonium adsorption and defect formation. Mixed-surfactant engineering therefore offers a practical strategy for tuning quantum defect formation in SWCNTs.
SN - 2755-3701
ER -