Photon enhanced aggregation of single walled carbon nanotube dispersions

The authors describe a photon enhanced aggregation of dispersed single walled carbon nanotubes in the presence of electron transfer reagents. A recently synthesized metallodendrimer strongly and specifically binds to the ends of the nanotubes. Upon optical excitation, of the metal to ligand charge transfer absorption, of various ruthenium complexes, the nanotubes rapidly coagulate. The electron transfer mechanism is consistent with observed photon enhancement process. These results support a directed self-assembly paradigm for nanostructured materials. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.