Although gold is the subject of one of the most ancient themes of investigation in science, its renaissance now leads to an exponentially increasing number of publications, especially in the context of emerging nanoscience and nanotechnology with nanoparticles and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We will limit the present review to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), also called gold colloids. AuNPs are the most stable metal nanoparticles, and they present fascinating aspects such as their assembly of multiple types involving materials science, the behavior of the individual particles, size-related electronic, magnetic and optical properties (quantum size effect), and their applications to catalysis and biology. Their promises are in these fields as well as in the bottom-up approach of nanotechnology, and they will be key materials and building block in the 21st century. Whereas the extraction of gold started in the 5th millennium B.C. near Varna (Bulgaria) and reached 10 tons per year in Egypt around 1200-1300 B.C. when the marvelous statue of Touthankamon was constructed, it is probable that “soluble” gold appeared around the 5th or 4th century B.C. in Egypt and China. In antiquity, materials were used in an ecological sense for both aesthetic and curative purposes. Colloidal gold was used to make ruby glass 293 Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 293−346

Gold nanoparticles: assembly, supramolecular chemistry, quantum-size-related properties, and applications toward biology, catalysis, and nanotechnology.

The large-scale practical application of fuel cells will be difficult to realize if the expensive platinum-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs) cannot be replaced by other efficient, low-cost, and stable electrodes. Here, we report that vertically aligned nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes (VA-NCNTs) can act as a metal-free electrode with a much better electrocatalytic activity, long-term operation stability, and tolerance to crossover effect than platinum for oxygen reduction in alkaline fuel cells. In air-saturated 0.1 molar potassium hydroxide, we observed a steady-state output potential of –80 millivolts and a current density of 4.1 milliamps per square centimeter at –0.22 volts, compared with –85 millivolts and 1.1 milliamps per square centimeter at –0.20 volts for a platinum-carbon electrode. The incorporation of electron-accepting nitrogen atoms in the conjugated nanotube carbon plane appears to impart a relatively high positive charge density on adjacent carbon atoms. This effect, coupled with aligning the NCNTs, provides a four-electron pathway for the ORR on VA-NCNTs with a superb performance.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/323/5915/760.full.pdf

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays with high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction.

Raman spectroscopy is an integral part of graphene research. It is used to determine the number and orientation of layers, the quality and types of edge, and the effects of perturbations, such as electric and magnetic fields, strain, doping, disorder and functional groups. This, in turn, provides insight into all sp(2)-bonded carbon allotropes, because graphene is their fundamental building block. Here we review the state of the art, future directions and open questions in Raman spectroscopy of graphene. We describe essential physical processes whose importance has only recently been recognized, such as the various types of resonance at play, and the role of quantum interference. We update all basic concepts and notations, and propose a terminology that is able to describe any result in literature. We finally highlight the potential of Raman spectroscopy for layered materials other than graphene.

/pdf/raman-spectroscopy-as-a-versatile-tool-for-studying-the-54mhwmcfzi.pdf

Raman spectroscopy as a versatile tool for studying the properties of graphene

Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Patras, Greece, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vass. Constantinou Avenue, 116 35 Athens, Greece, Institut de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, UPR9021 CNRS, Immunologie et Chimie Therapeutiques, 67084 Strasbourg, France, and Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Universita di Trieste, Piazzale Europa 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy

Chemistry of Carbon Nanotubes

Small but strong: A review of the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube–polymer composites

Polymers containing fullerene or carbon nanotube structures

This paper describes the adsorption of electroactive methylene blue (MB) dye onto single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) to form an electrochemically functional nanostructure and its layered nanocomposite. UV−visible and FT-IR spectroscopy and electrochemistry used for characterization of the MB adsorption onto SWNTs reveal that MB essentially interacts with SWNTs through charge-transfer and hydrophobic interactions, leading to the formation of a MB−SWNT adsorptive nanostructure which exhibits distinct electrochemical properties from those of MB adsorbed onto a glassy carbon (GC) electrode. The interactions between MB and the SWNTs are demonstrated to closely associate with the structural properties of the SWNTs by comparing the electrochemical properties of MB adsorbed onto different substrates, i.e., glassy carbon, SWNTs, and SWNTs intentionally sidewall functionalized with hydroxyl groups (SWNT-OHs). The stable adsorption of water-soluble and positively charged MB molecules onto the SWNTs is further de...

Adsorption of Methylene Blue Dye onto Carbon Nanotubes: A Route to an Electrochemically Functional Nanostructure and Its Layer-by-Layer Assembled Nanocomposite

Multilayer films of shortened multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are homogeneously and stably assembled on glassy carbon electrodes with the layer-by-layer (LBL) method, based on electrostatic interaction of positively charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and negatively charged and shortened MWNTs. The film assembly and electrochemical property as well as the electrocatalytic activity toward O2 reduction of the MWNT multilayer film are studied. Scanning electron microscopy, the quartz crystal microbalance technique, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry are used for characterization of film assembly. Experimental results revealed that film growth is uniform, almost with the same coverage of the MWNTs in each layer, and that the assembled MWNTs are mainly in the form of small bundles or single tubes on the electrodes. Electrochemical studies indicate that the LBL assembled MWNT films possess a remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward O2 reduction in alkaline media. This property, combined with the well-dispersed, porous and conductive features of the MWNT film illustrated with the LBL method, suggests the potential application of the MWNT film for constructing an efficient alkaline air electrode for energy conversions.

Electrostatic layer-by-layer assembled carbon nanotube multilayer film and its electrocatalytic activity for O2 reduction.

Multicomponent structures were constructed by DNA-directed self-assembling of multiple carbon nanotubes and gold nanoparticles. The work presented here represents an important advance in constructing many multicomponent nanotube structures for multifunctional material and device applications.

/pdf/dna-directed-self-assembling-of-carbon-nanotubes-5fq9d4oq38.pdf

DNA-directed self-assembling of carbon nanotubes.

https://case.edu/cse/eche/daigroup/Journal%20Articles/2003/Liu-2003-Self-assembly%20of%20gold%20nanoparticles.pdf

Zhi-Xin Guo

Papers

Polymers containing fullerene or carbon nanotube structures

Adsorption of Methylene Blue Dye onto Carbon Nanotubes: A Route to an Electrochemically Functional Nanostructure and Its Layer-by-Layer Assembled Nanocomposite

Electrostatic layer-by-layer assembled carbon nanotube multilayer film and its electrocatalytic activity for O2 reduction.

DNA-directed self-assembling of carbon nanotubes.

Self-assembly of gold nanoparticles to carbon nanotubes using a thiol-terminated pyrene as interlinker