Nanomaterials Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan.
CNT-Application Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan.
Nat Commun. 2016 Jun 28;7:12056. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12056.
Single-chirality, single-wall carbon nanotubes are desired due to their inherent physical properties and performance characteristics. Here, we demonstrate a chromatographic separation method based on a newly discovered chirality-selective affinity between carbon nanotubes and a gel containing a mixture of the surfactants. In this system, two different selectivities are found: chiral-angle selectivity and diameter selectivity. Since the chirality of nanotubes is determined by the chiral angle and diameter, combining these independent selectivities leads to high-resolution single-chirality separation with milligram-scale throughput and high purity. Furthermore, we present efficient vascular imaging of mice using separated single-chirality (9,4) nanotubes. Due to efficient absorption and emission, blood vessels can be recognized even with the use of ∼100-fold lower injected dose than the reported value for pristine nanotubes. Thus, 1 day of separation provides material for up to 15,000 imaging experiments, which is acceptable for industrial use.
由于其固有的物理性质和性能特点，单手性、单壁碳纳米管是人们所期望的。在这里，我们展示了一种基于新发现的碳纳米管与含有混合表面活性剂的凝胶之间的手性选择性亲和性的色谱分离方法。在这个系统中，发现了两种不同的选择性：手性角选择性和直径选择性。由于纳米管的手性由手性角和直径决定，因此将这些独立的选择性结合起来，可以实现高分辨率的单手性分离，具有毫克级的通量和高纯度。此外，我们使用分离的单手性（9,4）纳米管对小鼠进行了有效的血管成像。由于高效的吸收和发射，即使使用比报道的原始纳米管低约 100 倍的注射剂量，也可以识别血管。因此，1 天的分离提供的材料可供多达 15000 次成像实验使用，这对于工业用途是可以接受的。
