Synthesis of Carbon Nanostructures

We have achieved covalent grafting of (2-aminoethoxy)(tri-tert-butyl) zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) to exfoliated graphene sheets. Efficient fluorescence quenching of ZnPc in the ZnPc−graphene hybrid material suggested that photoinduced events occur from the photoexcited ZnPc to exfoliated graphene. The dynamics of the photoinduced electron transfer was evaluated by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. J. Phys. Chem. C, 2012, 116 (38), 20564–20573

We have reported the covalent functionalization of single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, both at the tips and on the walls, by perylenebisimides (PBIs). The resulting PBI-CNT hybrid materials were characterized by spectroscopic (UV-Vis, Raman, 1H-NMR), thermal (TGA) and microscopy techniques (TEM). Photoexcitation resulted in the one-electron reduction of the PBI moiety with the simultaneous one-electron oxidation of CNT, yielding (PBI)˙−-(CNT)˙+, as revealed by transient absorption measurement. Chem. Sci., 2012,3, 470-475