Functionalizing Carbon Nanotube Forests with 1,5-diaminoaphthalene

Authors

Ben Pound, Utah State UniversityFollow
T. -C. Shen, Utah State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Poster

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research

Publication Date

2-28-2014

Faculty Mentor

TC Shen

Abstract

Carbon Nanotube (CNT) Forests are vertically grown carbon nanotubes. They can be as tall as millimeters, with radii from less than one nanometer (single-walled) to tens of nanometers (multi-walled). Their high surface area to volume ratio provides a unique material system for biosensor applications. However, the CNT surface does not provide covalent bonding sites to many antibodies of interest. One approach is to attach linker molecules with aromatic rings via π-stacking to the CNT surface and activating the linker molecules to bind covalently to specific antibody molecules. Unfortunately, the conventional solution-based functionalization approach often leads to collapse of the CNT forest and hence a significant loss of binding sites. In this presentation we demonstrate that CNTs can be lithographically defined to form various structures that are resistant to liquid-induced collapse. We show that the CNT forest can be functionalized with 1,5-diaminonaphthalene as a linker molecule and its coverage can be characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy.

Comments

Poster presented at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. PDF of poster is available for download through link above.

Financial support has been provided by the USU Space Dynanamics Laboratory.

Recommended Citation

Pound, B., & Shen, T.-C. (2014, February 28). Functionalizing Carbon Nanotube Forests with 1,5-diaminoaphthalene. Presented at the Utah Council for Undergraduate Research,, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.