Solubilization and Purification of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes in Water by in Situ Radical Polymerization of Sodium

Because of outstanding electrical conductivity, ther-mal conductivity, and mechanical strength, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) have enormous potential in field emission displays, supercapacitors, molecular com-puters, and ultrahigh-strength materials.1,2 For optimal performance in most applications, the SWNT should be separated into individual tubes or bundles of only a few tubes. However, the as-prepared SWNT contain impuri-ties of metal catalyst particles and amorphous carbon, and because of strong van der Waals attraction, the SWNT pack into bundles that aggregate into tangled networks. Dissolution of SWNT in water, which is important because of potential biomedical applications and biophysical processing schemes, has been facilitated by surfactants and polymers and by chemical modifica