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Cycloaddition Functionalizations to Preserve or Control the Conductance of Carbon Nanotubes

Young-Su Lee·Nicola Marzari
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Abstract

We identify a class of covalent functionalizations that preserves or controls the conductance of single-walled metallic carbon nanotubes. [2+1] cycloadditions can induce bond cleaving between adjacent sidewall carbons, recovering in the process the $sp^2$ hybridization and the ideal conductance of the pristine tubes. This is radically at variance with the damage permanently induced by other common ligands, where a single covalent bond is formed with a sidewall carbon. Chirality, curvature, and chemistry determine bond cleaving, and in turn the electrical transport properties of a functionalized tube. A well-defined range of diameters can be found for which certain addends exhibit a bistable state, where the opening or closing of the sidewall bond, accompanied by a switch in the conductance, could be directed with chemical, optical or thermal means.

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Young-Su Lee, Nicola Marzari. 2006-08-06. Cycloaddition Functionalizations to Preserve or Control the Conductance of Carbon Nanotubes. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.97.116801

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