A key issue for the use of colloidal nanoobjects concerns their solubility, especially in water. Indeed, they tend to aggregate, resulting in the deterioration of their intrinsic properties. In order to overcome this bottleneck, many strategies have been developed. As far as carbon nanotubes are concerned, the best way to solubilize them in water while preserving their pristine properties is to use a micellar environment. One consequence is that the chemistry of carbon nanotubes in micelles is currently developing. For instance, people have doped nanotubes with diazonium, have grafted photoswitches on the wall of nanotubes, or even performed polymerization around nanotubes in micelles [1-4].

In this presentation, we will show how a simple mixing technique can lead to the functionalization of carbon nanotubes with free base tetraphenyl porphyrins. The role of the stability of the micelles containing the molecules will be investigated. Moreover, we will see how the control of the stability of the micelles can lead to a full control of the kinetics of the functionalization process [5]. Finally, we will discuss the possibility of extending the functionalization of nanotubes in micelles to other molecules with the aim, for instance, of building core-shell nanostructures [6].

References

[1] AJ. Hilmer et al. Langmuir 28(2), 1309-1321 (2012)

[2]S. Kreft et al., J.Phys.Chem.C,119.27 (2015): 15731-15734

[3] G. Clavé, et al, Chem. of Mat. 25.13 (2013): 2700-2707

[4] Y. Tsutsumi RSC Advances 4, 6318 (2014)

[5] G. Delport et al, submitted

[6] L. Orcin-Chaix et al, in preparation