Stable Luminescence from Individual Carbon Nanotubes in Acidic, Basic, and Biological Environments

Aqueous surfactant suspensions of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are very sensitive to environmental conditions. For example, the photoluminescence of semiconducting SWNTs varies significantly with concentration, pH, or salinity. In most cases, these factors restrict the range of applicabili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Chemical Society 2008-02, Vol.130 (8), p.2626-2633
Main Authors: Duque, Juan G, Cognet, Laurent, Parra-Vasquez, A. Nicholas G, Nicholas, Nolan, Schmidt, Howard K, Pasquali, Matteo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Benzenesulfonates - chemistry
Buffers
Cell Line
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Luminescence
Micelles
Molecular Structure
Nanotubes, Carbon - chemistry
Polyvinyls - chemistry
Pyrrolidines - chemistry
Sensitivity and Specificity
Surface-Active Agents - chemistry
Suspensions - chemistry
Time Factors
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Summary:Aqueous surfactant suspensions of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are very sensitive to environmental conditions. For example, the photoluminescence of semiconducting SWNTs varies significantly with concentration, pH, or salinity. In most cases, these factors restrict the range of applicability of SWNT suspensions. Here, we report a simple strategy to obtain stable and highly luminescent individualized SWNTs at pH values ranging from 1 to 11, as well as in highly saline buffers. This strategy relies on combining SWNTs previously suspended in sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) with biocompatible poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), which can be polymerized in situ to entrap the SWNT-SDBS micelles. We present a model that accounts for the photoluminescence stability of these suspensions based on PVP morphological changes at different pH values. Moreover, we demonstrate the effectiveness of these highly stable suspensions by imaging individual luminescent SWNTs on the surface of live human embryonic kidney cells (HEK cells).
ISSN:0002-7863
1520-5126
DOI:10.1021/ja0777234