Imaging the response of individual carbon nanotubes to polarized light in aqueous environments

ORAL

Abstract

Individual carbon nanotubes are grown using chemical vapor deposition (methane-ethylene carrier gas and iron nitrate catalyst), freely suspended in an aqueous solution using a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate), and imaged in an optical microscope using either fluorescent dye (PKH67 and PKH23) or intrinsic near-infrared fluorescence. Freely suspended, individual carbon nanotubes of length 1-8 micrometers show an increasing response to illuminating light as the polarization becomes parallel to tube axis. More intriguingly, some of the carbon nanotubes are found to collapse and fold under 10-30 seconds of illumination, with increasing tube length showing longer time-to-collapse. Unperturbed persistence lengths in these nanotubes are estimated to be 200-300 micrometers.

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Authors

  • Bryant Walker

    NIST, Gaithersburg, MD

  • Todd Brintlinger

    University of Maryland College Park, Dept. of Materials Sci. and Eng., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Materials Sci. and Eng., Univ. of Maryland, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park

  • M.S. Fuhrer

    Department of Physics and Center for Superconductivity Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, Dept. of Physics and Center for Superconductivity Research, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Department of Physics and Center for Superconductivity Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA, Center for Superconductivity Research, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111

  • John Cumings

    University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland, Dept. of Materials Sci. and Eng., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Materials Science and Eng., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park

  • E.K. Hobbie

    NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, NIST