OVERVIEW ON THE MAJOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ON CARBON NANOTUBES BEING DONE IN AMERICA, EUROPE AND ASIA - Carbon Nanotubes: From Bench Chemistry to Promising Biomedical Applications - page 250

Figure 9.5 Assembly of functionalised SWCNTs through lithography techniques.
Reproduced from Tulevski et al . 42 with permission.
9.2.2 USA
Hongjie DAI
@ Stanford University-California
Website (research activities): http://www.stanford.edu/dept/
chemistry/faculty/dai/group/research.htm
Expertise: Nanoscale transistors and biomedical applications of CNTs
This group includes about 20 researchers working in the areas of material
chemistry, inorganic synthesis, solid state physics, electron transport,
scanning probe microscopy and bio-nanotechnology. The ongoing projects
can be subdivided into three main areas: the irst one includes bio-
nanotechnology and nanomedicine, through the application of nanomaterials
for drug/gene delivery and targeting. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments
are performed to elucidate the mechanism of cellular uptake, as well as
tissue accumulation and toxicity after in vivo administration. The group has
already obtained promising results by improving cancer treatment eficacy
through functionalised SWCNTs. Moreover, because of their unique optical
properties, including bright Raman scattering and near-infrared (NIR)
photoluminescence, SWCNTs can also be used for biological imaging.
Another area involves surface functionalisation, mainly focused on the
incorporation of several molecules onto functionalised or pristine CNTs,
thus originating attractive supramolecular complexes. In particular, the
researchers have obtained a reversible hydrogenation of SWCNTs by creating
C-H bonds over 65% of the tubes, with an overall 5% of hydrogen storage.
The functionalisation is also applied to semiconducting nanowires,
essentially with long alkanethiol chains ( ≥ 12 C), which impart high resistance
against oxidation and hence a better durability of electronic devices.