Abstract

This chapter reviews some of the strategies that have been used to synthesize single walled carbon nanotubes having covalently bonded photoresponsive chromophores. In the first part, the synthetic route is discussed as well as the different characterization techniques and how the information gained by each of them has to be combined to have a more detailed information on the material. Emphasis is made on commenting the advantages of using short-soluble carbon nanotubes that can be more firmly characterized (particularly the occurrence of the covalent linkage) and how the covalent attachment reinforces considerably the interaction between the nanotube walls and the chromophore. The photophysics of the entities derived from the covalent functionalization of the carbon nanotubes by photoactive units is discussed in the second part. Examples are provided to show that single wall carbon nanotubes behave as semiconductors and behave accepting or donating electrons. Thus, in contrast to fullerenes that are always strong electron acceptors, the behavior of single wall carbon nanotubes in the photoinduced charge separation event depends on the nature of the partner attached covalently.

Keywords: Covalent functionalization of single wall carbon nanotubes, photoresponsive single wall carbon nanotubes, Soluble, short single wall carbon nanotubes, Carbon nanotubes as semiconductors, photoinduced electron transfer, transient absorption spectroscopy, nanoelectronics, optoelectronic devices, conductivity, nanometers, photons, Covalent, Non-Covalent, photochemistry