Journal of Physical Chemistry C | 2019
Doping-Dependent Energy Transfer from Conjugated Polyelectrolytesto (6,5) Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Abstract
Conjugated polymers exhibit strong interactions with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). These enable the selective dispersion of specific semiconducting SWNTs in organic solvents and polymer-mediated energy transfer to the nanotubes followed by emission in the near-infrared. Conjugated polyelectrolytes with ionic side-chains can add further functionalities to these nanotube/polymer hybrids such as dispersibility in polar solvents (e.g., methanol) and self-doping. Here, we demonstrate and investigate energy transfer from a range of conjugated polymers to preselected (6,5) SWNTs with varying spectral overlap between the optical transitions of the polymer and nanotube. We find evidence for increased backbone planarization of the polymers wrapped around the nanotubes. Furthermore, ambient p-doping of hybrids of anionic conjugated polyelectrolytes and (6,5) SWNTs blocks energy transfer in contrast to cationic polyelectrolytes. By addition of a mild reducing agent, thus removing the p-doping, the energy tr...