For the past half century, silicon has served as the primary material platform for integrated circuit technology. However, the recent proliferation of nontraditional electronics, such as wearables, embedded systems, and low‐power portable devices, has led to increasingly complex mechanical and electrical performance requirements. Among emerging electronic materials, single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising candidates for next‐generation computing as a result of their superlative electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Moreover, their chirality‐dependent properties enable a wide range of emerging electronic applications including sub‐10 nm complementary field‐effect transistors, optoelectronic integrated circuits, and enantiomer‐recognition sensors. Here, recent progress in SWCNT‐based computing devices is reviewed, with an emphasis on the relationship between chirality enrichment and electronic functionality. In particular, after highlighting chirality‐dependent SWCNT properties and chirality enrichment methods, the range of computing applications that have been demonstrated using chirality‐enriched SWCNTs are summarized. By identifying remaining challenges and opportunities, this work provides a roadmap for next‐generation SWCNT‐based computing.
Chirality purification of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is desirable for applications in many fields, but general utility is currently hampered by low throughput. We discovered a method to obtain single-chirality SWCNT enrichment by the aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) method in a single step. To achieve appropriate resolution, a biphasic system of non-ionic tri-block copolymer surfactant is varied with an ionic surfactant. A nearly-monochiral fraction of SWCNTs can then be harvested from the top phase. We also found, via high-throughput, near-infrared excitation-emission photoluminescence spectroscopy, that the parameter space of ATPE can be mapped to probe the mechanics of the separation process. Finally, we found that optimized conditions can be used for sorting of SWCNTs wrapped with ssDNA as well. Elimination of the need for surfactant exchange and simplicity of the separation process make the approach promising for high-yield generation of purified single-chirality SWCNT preparations.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1752506
- PAR ID:
- 10229580
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2045-2322
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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