Probing the Interior Environment of Carbon Nano-test-tubes

TL;DR

This paper investigates the interior environment of single-walled carbon nanotubes by encapsulating spin-active fullerenes and analyzing their behavior using microscopy, optical absorption, and ESR to understand their rotational dynamics and polarity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of filling carbon nanotubes with spin-active fullerenes and characterizes their interior environment using multiple spectroscopic techniques.

Findings

Encapsulated fullerenes exhibit specific rotational behaviors.

The nanotube interior shows polar characteristics.

The study demonstrates the feasibility of probing nanotube interiors with ESR and microscopy.

Abstract

We report the filling of single walled carbon nanotubes with an electron spin-active fullerene species where a nitroxide radical is functionalized on the fullerene cage. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), optical absorption and electron spin resonance (ESR) are used to determine the rotational behavior of the encapsulated molecules and determine the polar nature of the nanotube interior.