Abstract:
In an attempt to gather experimental evidence for the
influence of carbon allotropes on supramolecular chirality, we
found that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) facilitate amplification of
the molecular chirality of a p-gelator (MC-OPV) to supramolecular
helicity at a concentration much lower than that
required for intermolecular interaction. For example, at
a concentration 1.8×10¢4m, MC-OPV did not exhibit a CD
signal; however, the addition of 0–0.6 mg of SWNTs resulted in
amplified chirality as evident from the CD spectrum. Surprisingly,
AFM analysis revealed the formation of thick helical
fibers with a width of more than 100 nm. High-resolution TEM
analysis and solid-state UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy revealed that
the thick helical fibers were cylindrical cables composed of
individually wrapped and coaxially aligned SWNTs. Such an
impressive effect of CNTs on supramolecular chirality and
cylindrical-cable formation has not been reported previously
