Paul W. Barone, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, 104 RAL, 600 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61802, René Ortiz, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, Jingqing Zhang, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, and Michael S. Strano, 66-566 Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) fluoresce is still a new and exciting area of research. Modulation of SWNT fluorescence has previously been demonstrated by adsorption of electron withdrawing molecules[1,2], DNA rearrangement due to cation adsorption[3] and via DNA hybridization on the SWNT surface[4]; however, new methods to modulate SWNT fluorescence will allow SWNT use in new applications. We demonstrate that SWNT immobilized in a poly(vinyl) alcohol hydrogel show shifts in fluorescence emission maxima during hydrogel swelling / deswelling. The mechanism of SWNT fluorescence modulation and potential applications of SWNT based hydrogels will be discussed.
1. Barone, P.W.; et al., Nature Materials (2005), 4, 86-92.
2. Satishkumar, B.C.; et al. Nature Nanotechnology (2007), 2, 560-564.
3. Heller, D.A.; et al. Science (2006), 311, 508-511.
4. Jeng, E.S.; et al. Nano Letters (2006), 6, 371-375.