Highly selective dispersion of carbon nanotubes by using poly(phenyleneethynylene)-guided supermolecular assembly.

Isolation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with specific chirality and diameters is critical for achieving optimum performance of SWNTs in various applications. A water-soluble π-conjugated polymer, poly[(m-phenyleneethynylene)-alt-(p-phenyleneethynylene)], 3, is found to exhibit high selectivity in dispersing SWNT (6,5). The polymer's ability to sort out SWNT (6,5) appears to be related to the carbon-carbon triple bond, whose free rotation allows a unique assembly of chromophores in a helical conformation.

Filled and Empty Orbital Interactions in a Planar Covalent Organic Framework on Graphene.

The electronic characteristics of a planar covalent organic framework (COF) on graphene are investigated by means of dispersion-corrected density functional theory. The aromatic central molecule of the COF acts as an electron donor to graphene, while the linker of the COF acts as an electron acceptor. The concerted interaction between the filled orbitals of the central molecule and empty orbitals of the linker promotes the formation of planar COF networks on graphene.

Filled Pentagons and Electron Counting Rule for Boron Fullerenes.

We have revisited the general constructing schemes for a large family of stable hollow boron fullerenes with 80 + 8n (n = 0, 2, 3, ...