Signatures of Chemical Dopants in Simulated Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Carbon Nanotubes

Synthesis of carbon nanotubes-chitosan nanocomposite and immunosensor fabrication for myoglobin detection: An acute myocardial infarction biomarker

The use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in biomedical applications is limited due to their inability to disperse in aqueous solutions. In this study, dispersed -COOH functionalized CNTs with N-succinylated chitosan (CS), greatly increasing the water solubility of CNTs and forming a uniformly dispersed nanocomposite solution of CNTs@CS. Coupling reagent EDC/NHS was used as a linker with the -COOH groups present on the N-succinylated chitosan which significantly improved the affinity of the CNTs for biomolecules. Myoglobin (Mb) is a promising biomarker for the precise assessment of cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and several types of cancer. A high level of Mb can be used to diagnose the mentioned pathogenic diseases. The CNTs@CS-FET demonstrates superior sensing performance for Mb antigen fortified in buffer, with a wide linear range of 1 to 4000 ng/mL. The detection limit of the developed Mb immunosensor was estimated to be 4.2 ng/mL. The novel CNTs@CS-FET immunosensor demonstrates remarkable capability in detecting Mb without being affected by interferences from nonspecific antigens. Mb spiked serum showed a recovery rate of 100.262 to 118.55 % indicating great promise for Mb detection in clinical samples. The experimental results confirmed that the CNTs@CS-FET immunosensor had excellent selectivity, reproducibility and storage stability.

Multiconfigurational Calculations and Experimental Resonant Raman/SERRS of a Donor-Acceptor Thiadiazole Dye

The resonant Raman (RR) and resonant SERS spectra of the thiadiazole-based dye dibromobenzo[c]-1,2,5-thiadiazole (DBTD) were studied through multiconfigurational XMS-CASPT2/CASSCF and experimental methods in solution. The results indicate that the S1 excited state of DBTD is described by π → π* with internal CT from the benzene ring to the thiadizole. In resonance conditions at 364 nm, the RR spectrum shows intensifications in modes that describe extensive geometrical changes at both the benzene ring and the thiadiazole region, indicating an internal CT character to the S1. The SERS spectra observed on gold and silver nanoparticles indicate different adsorption geometries, which leads to distinct enhancement patterns on the spectra with varying excitation energy. It evidences the major contribution of the chemical enhancement mechanism on the spectra from a metal → DBTD CT state, as confirmed by the simulated spectra. This theoretical approach proved strong in the prediction of the main features of the observed experimental resonant Raman and SERS spectra indicating a potential for adequate description of the chemical mechanism of SERS.

Unified Quantification of Quantum Defects in Small-Diameter Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Raman Spectroscopy

The covalent functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with luminescent quantum defects enables their application as near-infrared single-photon sources, as optical sensors, and for in vivo tissue imaging. Tuning the emission wavelength and defect density is crucial for these applications. While the former can be controlled by different synthetic protocols and is easily measured, defect densities are still determined as relative rather than absolute values, limiting the comparability between different nanotube batches and chiralities. Here, we present an absolute and unified quantification metric for the defect density in SWCNT samples based on Raman spectroscopy. It is applicable to a range of small-diameter semiconducting nanotubes and for arbitrary laser wavelengths. We observe a clear inverse correlation of the D/G+ ratio increase with nanotube diameter, indicating that curvature effects contribute significantly to the defect activation of Raman modes. Correlation of intermediate frequency modes with defect densities further corroborates their activation by defects and provides additional quantitative metrics for the characterization of functionalized SWCNTs.

Structure-Resolved Monitoring of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Functionalization from Raman Intermediate Frequency Modes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) can be covalently modified to generate useful changes in their spectroscopic and photophysical properties. We report here a new method to monitor the extent of such functionalization reactions for different nanotube structures. Raman spectra are analyzed to find the intensities of structure-specific intermediate frequency mode (IFM) features in the range of ca. 350 to 650 cm-1, which are induced by introduction of sp3 defects. The IFM frequencies are found to depend on both the nanotube diameter and Raman excitation wavelength. The growth of IFM features is accompanied by a decrease in RBM intensities, so the IFM to RBM intensity ratio can provide a sensitive, structure-specific measure of nanotube functionalization.

On-the-Fly Nonadiabatic Dynamics Simulations of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Covalent Defects

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with covalent surface defects have been explored recently due to their promise for use in single-photon telecommunication emission and in spintronic applications. The all-atom dynamic evolution of electrostatically bound excitons (the primary electronic excitations) in these systems has only been loosely explored from a theoretical perspective due to the size limitations of these large systems (>500 atoms). In this work, we present computational modeling of nonradiative relaxation in a variety of SWCNT chiralities with single-defect functionalizations. Our excited-state dynamics modeling uses a trajectory surface hopping algorithm accounting for excitonic effects with a configuration interaction approach. We find a strong chirality and defect-composition dependence on the population relaxation (varying over 50-500 fs) between the primary nanotube band gap excitation E₁₁ and the defect-associated, single-photon-emitting E₁₁* state. These simulations give direct insight into the relaxation between the band-edge states and the localized excitonic state, in competition with dynamic trapping/detrapping processes observed in experiment. Engineering fast population decay into the quasi-two-level subsystem with weak coupling to higher-energy states increases the effectiveness and controllability of these quantum light emitters.