ABSTRACT
On the other hand, due to their size and geometry, SWCNTs provide a unique opportunity for nanoscale engineering of novel one-dimensional systems, created by self-assembly of molecules inside the SWCNT hollow core. In particular, it has been shown that the intercalation of electron donors or acceptors [4-6] into single wall carbon nanotube bundles could dramatically modify the electronic properties of these objects. It has been experimentally shown that fullerenes can be inserted into SWCNTs. is class of nanomaterials has been dubbed as “nanopeapods,”
re ecting structural similarities to real peapods. ese structures were observed while doing high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging on nanotube material produced by the “pulsed laser vaporization” technique, and the interior molecules reported to be spaced 0.3 nm from the nanotube walls, as seen in Figure 46.1. e interpretation was that the encapsulated molecules were C60 spaced with the carbon-carbon (C-C) van der Waals (vdW) distance between each molecule and the walls of the tube as well as between the molecules themselves. e composite nature of peapod materials raises an exciting possibility of a nanoscale material having a tunable structure that can be tailored to a particular electronic functionality. Rather, large molecules are expected to be inserted into the hollow core of a nanotube that has been shown to present very stable adsorption sites [7]. e study of peapods stands within the fascinating eld of systems in a con ned geometry [8-11]. Peapods structural analysis can be performed using transmission electron microscopy [12,13] or electron di raction [14,15], or on macroscopic assemblies, using Raman spectroscopy [13,16,17] or x-ray scattering [17-19].
